I didn’t see anything EMarketer on predictions 2009 for Web Analytics but I did notice they put out some pretty interesting stuff in eMarketer’s Predictions for 2009 for Social Media, Search and Traditional Media – here’s what they say about Social Media:

Social Networking: E-Commerce a Revenue Stream

E-commerce will be a growing revenue stream for social network sites. Expect both MySpace and Facebook to enhance their self-serve advertising systems to allow consumers and businesses to buy and sell real-world goods and services.

With US ad revenue growth slowing, smaller and niche social networks will have a tough time gaining traction and several may close up shop or be acquired by larger players. In addition, marketers that have built standalone social networks tied to their brands will either close them or migrate them to existing social network platforms where they can reach a broader audience.

Facebook, already a de facto business networking site because of the number of businesspeople who use it, will develop ad programs aimed at B2B companies. This will directly affect LinkedIn.

Twitter may have turned down Facebook’s all-stock offering in late 2008, but it will still end up being acquired. The company that buys it will use the Twitter infrastructure to offer targeted marketing and analytics to advertisers.

Ha … so niche social networks will continue to die out – but faster – while those that are big and have several million members, will do better, especially Facebook.

TV spend, it’s predicted, by eMarketer, will have about the same level of spending that it had, last year, in 2007.  Ouch!

eMarketer estimates that US TV ad spending will decline 4.2% to $66.9 billion in 2009. This drop in spending reflects not only expectations of a continued poor economy but a seismic shift in the way TV ads are bought and sold.

Fragmentation on TV and declines in viewership have made it more difficult for advertisers to reach audiences. Broadcasters will be pressed to redefine their businesses in an increasingly digital world. They will focus on expanding programming to the online realm and will continue to test business models.

The 800-lb. online video gorilla, YouTube, announced in Q4 2008 that it would carry full-length television programs supported by ads. Expect to see similar properties compete with it in 2009.

That means, for TV advertising to stagnate, YouTube will expand, which will be good for Google (and provide metrics, as well, better than what we pull for Television and Cable, so far).

In fact, the growth of YouTube, next year, can be partially based to Video Ad Spending, which is expected to grow by 45% over 2008 numbers (see below):

Online Ad Spending: Still Solid Choice

Video ad spending will run counter to overall economic developments, rising by 45% in 2009 to reach $850 million. Two key factors support this trend.

First, the sharp escalation of professional video content on the Web—mainly from TV networks—is creating a viable base for brand marketers.

Second, even though most advertisers are increasingly cautious with their budgets, they still need to reach online audiences and woo their shrinking wallets with messages that reach their hearts and minds—hence, more video.

Search marketing spending will grow by 14.9% in 2009, to $12.3 billion. Search marketing is not recession-proof, but it is recession-resistant. Two basic assumptions support this eMarketer projection. Search is highly measurable, so it will maintain its place in many budgets and increase in some others, as advertisers look for secure and effective methods to combat fear in an economic meltdown.

Also, consumers—who monetize search ads by deciding whether or not to click—will take money off the table by shopping less, and put money back on by searching for deals.

What I’m getting – and this should be a boom for Web Analytics – is that media that is “measurable” or easier to measuare and produce ROI metrics on, will do better and better (even in 2009!).

I’ll have my own predictions for 2009 in a week or so.