Online advertising share overtakes newspapers

IAB/PwC UK online adspend figures 2006

Wednesday, 28 March 2007

Internet advertising expenditure in the UK broke the £2 billion barrier in 2006 thanks to a 41.2% surge in growth as marketers moved their budgets online.

In 2006 £2.016 billion was spent online by advertisers targeting the 31 million (GfK NOP) people connected to the internet. The growth has increased the internet's share of all advertising revenues to 11.4% (now 12.4%), up from 7.8% in 2005.

Internet advertising expenditure breakdown:

£453.7m - display / £1,200 m - search / £379m - classified

Online spend boosted the entire advertising industry, which grew by 1.1% in 2006.

With almost all expenditure on traditional media in decline, the upward momentum of the internet reflects a new era in marketing communication and consumer behaviour, which is driven by high-speed broadband take-up and user-generated content.

• 26% of internet users' media day is spent online
• Video is a catalyst for staying online for longer

The figures are from the biannual online advertising spend study by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), carried out in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC).

Press release