March saw the Internet Advertising Bureau reveal that UK internet advertising expenditure grew 41% in 2006, breaking the £2 billion barrier.
This growth increased the internet’s share of all advertising revenues to 11.4%, up from 7.8% in 2005 (see
UK Internet Advertising Spend Grows 41%).
In the US, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers released figures which showed that internet advertising revenues for 2006 were estimated at $16.8 billion, a 34% increase over the previous record of $12.5 billion in 2005.
Commenting on the figures, Randall Rothenberg, IAB CEO and president, said: “The continued growth in interactive advertising is clearly based on marketers’ recognition that they can connect with consumers most effectively through interactive media (see 2006 US Internet Ad Revenues Increase).
“The increase underscores marketers’ understanding that interactive advertising can engage consumers, build brands and sell products and services.”
Online was one of the major themes of the month, with eMarketer saying that Britain is now becoming a major online economy.
The UK Online report said that as telecom competition drives down prices, growing numbers of Britons are upgrading to broadband speeds (see Britain Becoming Major Online Economy).
EMarketer published a separate report which forecast that by 2011, online ad spending will reach $36.5 billion.
The online market research firm said that at varying points over the next three years, Forrester Research, JupiterResearch, Oppenheimer, PricewaterhouseCoopersn and Borrell Associates predict positive growth slipping into single digits for the first time since the dawn of internet advertising in the 1990s (see Online Adspend To Increase).
Moving back to the US, eMarketer also announced that marketers will continue to shift their spending into online advertising in 2007, although it warned that growth in US online ad spending will be lower than it has been for three years.
It forecast that in 2007, US advertisers will spend nearly $8.3 billion on paid search ads, $1.3 billion more than they did in 2006 (see US Marketers Will Continue To Move Online).
In addition, ComScore Networks announced that 747 million people, age 15+, used the internet worldwide in January 2007, a 10% increase versus January 2006.
Among the top 15 countries (ranked by penetration), internet audiences in India, the Russian Federation and China increased the most in 2006, growing 33%, 21% and 20% respectively (see Worldwide Internet Usage Increases).
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