UK Internet advertising outlay now exceeds the amount spent on TV advertising.

The internet advertising expenditure in Denmark exceeded that spent on TV six months ago, and now the UK has reached a similar position. 

A study by the Internet Advertising Bureau reports that advertisers in the UK spent £1.75 billion in the half year to 30 June, an increase of 4.6% on the same period last year. This has grown from only £19.4 million in 1998, when it was first measured. 

Internet advertising is now 23.5% of the total of advertising expenditure in the UK and TV ads make up 21.9%. The TV advertising outlay was reduced by 17% in this period to £1.6 billion. 

Online search advertising made up 60%, an amount of £1.05 billion, of the £1.75 billion amount spent online. This was increase of 6.8% over the previous year’s first 6 months. 

The amount spent on Internet classified ads increased by 10.6% to £385 million, 22% of the total of online advertising. However, internet display ads outlay was reduced by 5.2% to £316.5 million, which was 18% of the total internet ad spend. The fall in online display advertising was the response of larger companies to the recession. 

Video advertising on the net, which is a new field, grew 300% to £12 million. 

The Internet Advertising Bureau suggests that there is still substantial growth to come in online advertising, with a prediction that it will reach 30% of all advertising, a figure of £4 - £5 billion. 

This trend of advertisers following consumers online is dramatic. The only query on how this will continue is whether social network sites, where the user numbers are growing very fast, will be able to successfully incorporate effective advertising without losing their members. 

Online advertising is growing quickly because of the ability to track results and accurately determine the cost of acquiring new business. 

We make this service available free to the 1.6 businesses listed in our Business Directory via our Local Search facility. We provide them with qualified prospects, with no cost to them. 

Monte Huebsch, CEO.