UK social network ad spend to double

Ad spending on social networks in the UK is set to double by 2012, according to a new report by eMarketer.

eMarketer estimates social network ad spending in the UK will rise from £130 million this year to £275 million by 2012, an increase of more than 110% in two years. This will boost social network ad spending from 3% of all online ad spending to 6% over the same time period.

Unsurprisingly, Facebook will take the greatest share of spending as the most popular social network in the UK (and the US).

“There’s a new breed of advertisers that have recognised this shift and understand that he who adds the most value to the consumer wins,” a representative from Facebook told eMarketer. “Agencies have been quick to recognize and harness the power of social but in the last six months alone, we’ve seen marketing directors start to truly understand the opportunities in this space and build a great social experience for customers.”

In the US, social network ad spend, which is around an estimated $1.68 billion this year, has a larger share of the online market – 6.7% in 2010.

The number of UK social network users is set to rise 10% next year and by single digits thereafter, reaching nearly 30 million and 59.9% penetration by 2014.

In a separate report, eMarketer estimates that US advertisers will have spent more on online ads in 2010 than newspaper ads for the first time.

“Online ad spending will grow 13.9% to $25.8 billion for the full year in 2010, while advertisers are expected to spend just $22.78 billion on print newspaper ads this year, down 8.2% from 2009,” the company said.