Internet adspend overtakes outdoor

Campaign 07-Oct-05

Online advertising spend will hit £1 billion by the end of the year and has already overtaken outdoor's market share, according to the latest figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Spend reached £490.8 million in the first half of 2005, an
increase of 62.3 per cent on the same period last year. The growth saw
market share increase to 5.8 per cent, compared with a 5.1 per cent

share for outdoor advertising across the same period.

Display advertising on the internet rose 67.7 per cent to hit £162.1 million, one-third of total spend. The paid-for search category
also grew dramatically, up 72 per cent to £197.3 million. "Other
display", which includes video streaming and microsites, also saw strong
growth, with the sector around ten times the size it was last year.

The growth has been driven by the take-up in broadband, according to Guy
Phillipson, the chief executive of the IAB. More than eight million
homes now have broadband internet connections, outstripping those with
dial-up.

"These results have surpassed our expectations. At the end of 2004, the
IAB predicted online would overtake outdoor by mid-2006 and we've beaten
this target," Phillipson commented.