Both Facebook and Google are poised to become bigger players in the display advertising market, with the former set up for more immediate success this year and the latter expected to grow dramatically in 2012.

Both Facebook and Google are poised to become bigger players in the display advertising market, with the former set up for more immediate success this year and the latter expected to grow dramatically in 2012.

According to data from a new eMarketer report, Facebook's online display ad revenue is set to grow 80.9 percent this year after posting huge triple-digit gains in 2009 and 2010. Growth will continue to slow into 2012, when the social network is expected to post modest 31.3 percent improvements. This forecast supports Brafton's earlier report that Facebook ads are positioned to propel its 2011 revenue to $2 billion.

Conversely, eMarketer anticipates Google will grow a mere 34.4 percent over the course of the next six months before picking up considerably in 2012, when online display ad revenues will increase by 58.3 percent.

“Facebook's supreme popularity – both in terms of numbers of people and amount of time they spend there – creates a plethora of display ad impressions, mainly for its unique form of banners,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst. “And that popularity is also boosting what advertisers will pay for its display ads.”

Thanks to Facebook's targeting options, display ads can be used to further promote products to consumers already engaged with a brand's social media content. According to data given to InsideFacebook by agency TBG, leveraging Facebook ads to reach existing fans can reduce the costs of generating sales by 15 percent. With this in mind, marketers might want to build up their fan bases with original Facebook content to maximize paid and organic social earnings.