April saw the release of the latest IPA Bellwether report, which found that the rate of decline of marketing spend slowed in Q1 2009, suggesting budget cuts may have reached their peak in the Q4 2008.
Businesses confidence was up from the all-time low of Q4, said the report, with the percentage of companies believing their prospects had improved rising from 5% to 14% (see
Q1 2009 Bellwether Report: Turning point for marketing budgets).
At the start of the month, a study from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that online adspend grew 17.1% in 2008, to £3.4 billion
The figures showed that spending online increased by £540 million year on year (see UK online adspend grew 17.1% in 2008).
Later in the month, ZenithOptimedia forecast that UK ad spending would fall 8.7% this year, with global spend predicted to shrink by 6.9% (see UK adspend forecast to fall 8.7% in 2009).
It added that adspend would fall 8.3% in North America in 2009, with the US down 8.7%.
A report from media analyst Screen Digest predicted that online advertising would fall 5% in 2009 (see US online advertising forecast to fall 5% in 2009).
It found that while internet advertising grew 10% in 2008, the fourth quarter was almost flat at +2.6%, a significant change from the first nine months of the year which were up approximately 15%.
However, eMarketer said that the internet’s share of US media ad spending is rising by at least 1 percentage point every year (see Online share of US media ad spending continues to rise).
According to the online research firm, the online share of US ad dollars will continue to grow, rising from nearly 10% this year to slightly more than 15% in 2013.
In-Stat, meanwhile, published the results of a survey revealing that over 66 million US consumers across demographic categories use the internet while watching TV (see Over 66m US consumers go online while watching TV).
Based on a survey of US TV viewing habits, 33% of all male respondents, across age groups, reported that they sometimes use a personal computer while watching TV. Among some male age groups the behaviour was as high as 50%.
Towards the end of the month, Magna forecast that the US market for online video would grow by 32% this year, rising from $531 million in 2008 to $699 million in 2009.
In total, by 2011, Magna said online video will generate slightly more than $1 billion in net advertising revenues for video content. This represents a compounded annual growth rate of 36% for each year between 2006 and 2011 (see US market for online video forecast to grow 32% this year).
