June saw the release of a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe revealing that European online advertising was worth €12.9 billion in 2008.
Search remains the leading format in Europe, the report found, with a year on year growth rate of 26%, accounting for 43% of online ad expenditure in the 19 countries measured and a value of €5.6 billion (see
European online advertising worth €12.9bn in 2008).
The Nielsen company released a report showing that levels of display advertising activity in the UK in the first four months of 2009 were up 21% year on year (see UK online display advertising up 21% year on year).
The number of display advertisers online increased by 43%, the number of campaigns by 49% and the number of creatives by 48%, said Nielsen.
comScore data showed that the UK online audience hit 36.8 million unique users in April, making it the second largest online audience in Europe (see Ofcom Plans New Public Service Channel To Rival BBC).
Of the 17 European countries individually tracked by comScore, Germany’s online audience was the continent’s largest, racking up 40 million unique visitors during the month.
Elsewhere, Ofcom research said that one in five adults who do not have the internet at home are likely to sign up in the next six months (see 1 in 5 adults without internet access likely to sign up in next six months).
Those intending to get the internet in the next six months are more likely to be younger, use the internet already outside of the home, are working and have children, the research found.
Sticking with the UK, according to figures from the Advertising Association, UK adspend was down 4% year on year to £18.6 billion in 2008 (see UK advertising expenditure down 4% in 2008).
This compares to positive annual growth of 4.3% in 2007. The largest medium was press, attracting 37% of all advertising expenditure, followed by TV with 24% and internet in third place, accounting for just over 19%.
Looking ahead, PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast that the UK entertainment and media (E&M) market will experience a cumulative 7% decline in revenue from 2008 to 2010, from $92 billion to $85 billion (see UK entertainment and media market revenue to fall 7%).
A change in consumer spending behaviour will push the market to its lowest revenue figures since 2005, said PwC.
The latest media and marketing forecast from GroupM said that investment in UK media is set to fall 14% this year and 3% next year (see GroupM forecasts 14% drop in UK adspend).
Print classifieds are set to suffer, it said, raising £718 million in 2009 – a 40% drop from 2008 and 60% lower than its 1,817 million peak in 2004.
