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Interactive media adshare doubles to 15% globally

by Nikki Sandison, Brand Republic 25-Jun-08, 10:25

LONDON - Interactive media's worldwide share of advertising spend, including internet, mobile and gaming, is expected to reach 15% in 2009, according to a new study by GroupM.

This is almost double the amount recorded only four years ago and, according to the study, the trend will continue, as interactive remaining the principal source of advertising growth while adspend in traditional media continues to decline.

The study, 'Interaction: Addressable, Searchable, Social and Mobile', reveals that adspend in interactive media reached 11% of the total last year, sparked mostly by gains recorded in the US and Western Europe. The growth was assisted also by the increased use and availability of improved handsets, inexpensive laptops, faster broadband and extensive WiFi connections.

GroupM's research covered 35 countries and points out that internet advertising has been the principal source of media investment growth in western nations since 2001 as spending in traditional media has levelled off.

In the UK, adspend in interactive media is expected to increase from 10% in 2005 to 30% in 2009, the highest out of all the countries measured in the report.

The report also reveals that demographics alone will sustain growth in internet use among consumers for at least another generation, and possibly two, as under 25-year-olds carry their habits into middle age and beyond.

Almost 45% of 2007 interactive adspend counted as display, a figure that is expected to fall slightly. Paid search advertising clocked in at 38% and is expected to grow.

The report said that there is a strong positive correlation between the amount of broadband a country has and the internet's share of advertising investment.

The survey also revealed that the amount of time consumers spend online was increasing, from an average of 27 minutes daily in 2005 to a projected 46 minutes by 2009.

The report concluded that the increasing time spent online was generally not at the expense of time spent with TV, radio and print, but rather by carving out more time to spend online, or possibly multi-tasking.

Rob Norman, global CEO of GroupM interaction, said: "This report aims to improve advertisers' success rate in digital marketing. There's little doubt that interactive channels are increasingly vital to delivering reach and engagement and will only become more so in the coming years."