TED 2008 came and went last week with all the laughs, tears and amazing insights one would expect from such an assemblage of inventors, scientists, writers, philosophers and global visionaries. If you haven’t heard of TED, you must visit the TED site and indulge in a few of the TED Talks posted there.

I had the honor of being a TED University professor this year, meaning I presented two very fast (12 minute) “classes” to TEDsters. A whirlwind event indeed! My class, “Tour of the China Web,” combined major themes from our Netpop research (Web 2.0, mobile, self-expression), various websites illustrating those themes, and some actual photos of Bejing taken in December. (Thank you, Grace, for the photos and your help in pulling this together!)

The presentation generated a lot of interest in our China data – particularly among investors/VCs and corporate representatives. One audience member asked whether I believed online advertising was destined to grow at a faster pace in China than other countries. Overall, I do see online advertising growing at a faster pace in China, given the greater interest among Chinese consumers to learn about products and brands online, and the growth of Internet usage in general. At just 3% of overall ad spend in 2007, it grew 48% from 2006 and still has a lot of room for growth. The U.S. online advertising business has been around longer, but is still growing at a healthy clip – around 19% year-over-year, a much faster pace than offline advertising channels. Thus both markets are poised for strong growth but, yes, I do see the China market surpassing the U.S. in growth, engagement and effectiveness overall.

 If anyone is curious to hear more about my TED-U class or the China data in general, I can be reached at cate@media-screen.com.