In a sign that times-are-a-changing, online advertising expenditure in the UK grew by 41% in 2006, grabbing a record 11% share of the total ad spend. The biggest online advertisers came from recruitment, followed by finance and technology. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau and PWC, the ad spend for online advertising was $3.97bil compared to $3.76bil for newspapers. TV adverts still held the biggest market share at $7.71bil, although it suffered a 4.7% drop. Globally, online advertising accounts for approximately 5.8% of total ad spend. I firmly believe that it’s only a matter of time before Asia follows the same trend, as broadband Internet becomes cheaper and more prevalent, and as the local Chief Marketing Officers begin to embrace the Internet as a new marketing medium instead of fearing it.
