Online advertising spend overtakes radio

The amount of money spent on online advertising in the U.S. is set to overtake that spent on radio advertising, according to an eMarketer study.

by Helen Leggatt

Online advertising spend in the U.S. is expected to reach $21.7 billion by the end of 2007, up 22 percent from last year, according to eMarketer’s recent report, “Radio Trends: On Air and Online".

U.S. radio advertising spend, however, is expected to reach just $20.4 billion, an increase of just 1.5 percent on 2006.

As U.S. adults spend more and more time each day on the Internet or in front of the TV, radio is losing its place in everyday life. Ben Macklin, author of the report, said that advertisers shouldn’t abandon terrestrial radio but instead combine the two media to gain the benefits associated with both. "There are many synergies between radio and the Internet and, for the most part, they complement rather than compete with each other,'' he said.

The report forecasts that the terrestrial radio advertising market will continue to experience slow growth, achieving an estimated $22.6 billion in 2011, whereas online ad spending will have more than doubled to $44 billion.