I read with interest that New Zealand online advertising has grown by 23% in 3 months. Businesses and individuals had spent the best part of $41 million in Q3! That takes the total year to date spending to $98.6 million. Estimates are that the yearly figure will exceed $120 million.

When you think about it, though, it’s not a great surprise. With so many more websites out there it is getting harder to stand out in traditional search engines and online directories. One report by IBM Global Business Services says that 30% of ad revenue now spent on traditional media will shift to online ad exchanges such as Yahoo and Google.

In the US, online ad spend on newspaper websites grew 21% in Q3, or US$773 million. The digital revolution is far from disappearing. Growth in New Zealand is expected to continue for some time yet, considering overseas Online Advertising figures are still in double digit growth.

There are many ways to spend your money in online advertising - search directories are an option for New Zealanders. And what better time for me to shamelessly shout from the roof tops that NZS.com is a great choice! As the number one NZ-based search directory, with more than 300,000 unique visitors a month and over 80,000 listings, we’ve got plenty to shout about.

For options on Sponsored Listings, Marketing pages or Site Sponsorship click here for more information.

What’s your style when looking for information online? Do you prefer to search and view results, or would you rather browse from a categorised selection of listings?

NZS.com is a search engine and a directory, which means you can browse as well as search for New Zealand websites. With the fad for instantly gratifying search (seen by some as an easier option), it’s easy to forget that browsing can be a great way to find exactly what you’re looking for. We offer a clear, intuitive, easy-to-navigate directory structure, with thousands of categories. We’ve got everything from outdoor education and personal chefs, to dairy farming, wedding venues and adventure tours!

It’s best to browse when…you know a little about your subject matter. Think of it like going to a library section where there’s a whole shelf of books on a particular topic. Say you’re looking for reiki (you know what reiki is and you want to find a local practitioner). You browse to the main Health category, click on the Alternative Health subcategory and, voila, there’s a Reiki category listing all New Zealand reiki practitioners.

It’s s best to search when…you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, or you’re unfamiliar with your subject matter. Let’s say you search for ‘reiki’ (it’s something you’ve heard of, but you have no idea where you might find it). Your search results tell you there are many relevant listings. You can also see that there’s a whole category devoted to Reiki in the directory, where you can browse all available listings in one place.

So you see, searching and browsing offer two different paths to the same end. The NZS.com directory combines the two - so you can enjoy the best of both worlds!