Online advertising spending in Britain overtook national newspapers for the first time in 2006, according to figures released today.
Online spending grew by more than 41 per cent in 2006 to just over £2 billion, according to figures released by the Internet Advertising Bureau.
The surge in online spending offset a 4.7 per cent decline in television spending and a miniscule 0.2 per cent rise in newspaper ad spending.
Online is now the second-largest advertising medium after television, which continues to lead the field with £3.9 billion in ad spending.
Related
The report, compiled by the World Advertising Research Centre and PricewaterhouseCoopers, shows that Britain has the highest proportion of online spending of any country in the world, with more than 11 per cent of all ad spending going to online. The average for all countries is just 5.8 per cent.
However, more than half of Britain's online advertising of the UK's online advertising spend went to search services such as Google.
Online classifieds accounted for 18.8 per cent of the total spend, a growth of 45 per cent, in contrast with the 7.8 per cent drop in that category in printed newspapers.
Content from our partners
Increasing use of broadband services has improved the performance of online vide, which advertisers see as having more impact than traditional online display ads, the report says.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
