British online ad spend keeps on rising

Internet advertising now accounts for a larger share of the market than direct mail, with 15 percent compared to 11.8 percent. During the first six months of the year online marketing had reached around $2.6 billion and that is forecast to double to around $5.5 billion by the end of 2007.

"We had originally planned for online to reach 20 percent ad share by 2010, but on this rate of growth the timeline can be brought forward to early quarter one 2009,” said Dan Clays, MD of BLM Quantum, in a report in the Guardian.

Other reported findings from the IAB report include:-

- Online classified advertising showed the highest growth at an astounding 72 percent, to $564 million, and now accounts for over a fifth of the online ad market.

- Display advertising grew 33 percent to $582 million.

- Paid search grew 44 percent to around $1.5 billion.

- The top category, almost a 25 percent share, was recruitment followed by automotive (12.5 percent), finance (11.7 percent), telecoms (6.7 percent) and property (5.7 percent).

Overall, the British advertising market grew just over 3 percent in the first half of the year to $18.4 billion.

Tags: Interactive Advertising Bureau, online ad spend, online advertising, U.K.