LONDON—The Internet will usurp television as the biggest
advertising medium in Britain by the end of 2009, according to a report
published yesterday.
Britain has the most developed online advertising market in
the world, which the report by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB),
PricewaterhouseCoopers and the World Advertising Research Centre said was worth
2.8 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) in 2007.
It said last year’s 38 percent online ad growth was driven by
the rising number of people online, the introduction of cheap laptops and the
growing popularity of catch-up TV on the Internet through services such as
Channel 4’s 4oD.
"With broadband speeds on the up and consumers spending more
time on more sites, the outlook for online advertising is rosy — in fact we
expect it to overtake TV in 2009 when it will become the UK’s biggest medium,"
IAB chief executive Guy Phillipson said in a statement.
The report said the Internet was the biggest driver of
overall advertising growth in 2007, with the entire sector in Britain
experiencing 4.3 percent growth to 18.4 billion pounds.
Online ad spend had a market share of 15.3 percent, up from
11.4 percent in 2006, but behind display press advertising at 19.9 percent and
TV at 21.8 percent.
Display online advertising, such as banners and video, grew
31 percent while paid-for search marketing was "maturing, but not slowing" as
marketers and brands learned to secure a greater return on their investment
through "key phrases" and accurate targeting.
Advertising spend on search grew 39 percent, in line with overall growth, to
1.6 billion pounds, while its market share remained largely the same at almost
58 percent. Classified advertising showed 54 percent year-on-year growth.
—Reuters
