You probably don’t need anyone to tell you that 2009 was a banner year for social media and mobile marketing. So we won’t focus on those numbers from today’s comScore report. However, the report tracks some surprising numbers on display ads, video ads and advice for capitalizing on these trends for 2010.

First, display ads. comScore reports they grew 21 percent over 2008, in a market that was decidedly skewed toward search. U.S. Internet users viewed a total of 4.3 trillion display ads (standard and non-standard IAB ads, includes both static and rich media, but not video) during the past twelve months, driven by an 8-percent increase in the number of people exposed to display ads online and a 12-percent increase in average frequency.

Online video viewing accelerated in 2009, with 19 percent more people in the U.S. viewing more videos for longer periods of time. Americans also viewed a significantly higher number of videos in 2009 versus the prior year, due to both increased content consumption and a growing number of video ads being delivered. The average online viewer consumed 187 videos in December 2009 (up 95 percent vs. year ago), while the duration of the average video viewed grew from 3.2 to 4.1 minutes.

The company’s analysis for digital content and publishers centers around innovation. “As we begin to emerge from the recession, 2010 is a year that the digital media industry should be greeting with tempered optimism,” the report states. “The critical question is whether or not the economy will see sustained increases in consumer demand, which is necessary to drive continued growth in the digital advertising sector. Companies that are most efficient in scaling up their operations and in developing new and innovative approaches to complex business issues are the ones who will capture the largest share of the pie as the economy rebounds.

Key trends for 2010 include:

• Success in social networking and social media will continue to depend on effectively harnessing the marketing intelligence inherent in the way people communicate and interact with one another through the digital medium and make it actionable. Even as new capabilities emerge that leverage the “social” value of the medium, it is worth remembering that this channel can already deliver substantial reach for ad campaigns and despite low click-through rates there is measurable view-through value from these ads.
• Online video continues to capitalize on the continued increase in media fragmentation, consumer generated content, and a rising generation of consumers very comfortable using their computers as primary or secondary entertainment devices. As this market has emerged, higher quality video and more seamless integration of video ads are emerging and adding value to the digital advertising market -- to the benefit of both advertisers and publishers.
• The digital display advertising market is innovating on several fronts right now, including the emergence of new ad units that promote higher engagement, cutting edge ad targeting techniques, the development of niche audience ad networks, and the increasing popularity of online ad exchanges to buy and sell inventory.