Europe Online Adspend Sees Strong 2005
Internet advertising in Europe is growing rapidly, with eMarketer revealing that internet adspend in the five largest nations in Western Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK reached €1,863 million in 2005.
Speaking about the Eurpean online ad market, David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report said: “Comparing the European online advertising market to that in the US, you could say that Europe is about two years behind the US. But then you have to ask the question, are we talking about all of Europe, just Western Europe or a specific nation.”
eMarketer projects the greatest growth during 2006 to come from Spain, which currently has the fewest people going online among the EU-5.
As of this year, more than 50% of the population goes online in just the UK and Germany, with France and Italy expected to pass that mark in 2007.
Hallerman added: “Online marketers looking to target the European audience must remember that the content and elements of any campaign often have to be tailored for the local environment, not shaped in a pan-European one-size-fits-all manner.”
Recent research from Datamonitor claims that consumer broadband is increasing at its fastest rate across most of Europe, with penetration expected to settle at around 60% in advanced markets (see Europe Sees Surge In Broadband Adoption).
Out of the various types of broadband technologies, digital subscriber line (DSL) were shown to be the most popular type of broadband on offer, with Datamonitor stating DSL has already achieved good penetration levels in most markets.
Estimates released by Point Topic at the beginning of the year, reveal that the UK has overtaken France as the largest broadband country in Europe. According to the broadband monitor, the UK will have 9.8 million broadband lines by New Year’s Day 2006 compared to France with 9.7 million (see UK Overtakes France As Largest European Broadband Country).
The expected strong performance comes on the backend of a healthy third quarter for DSL uptake in 2005, with Point Topic revealing that during the first nine months of 2005 the UK added nearly 2.8 million broadband lines, while France added 2.2 million (see Global Broadband Lines Up By 9% In Q3 2005).
| Internet Users In Select Countries in Western Europe, 2003-2008 (in millions) | ||||||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| France | 21.9 | 23.9 | 26.3 | 28.5 | 30.8 | 33.1 |
| Germany | 39 | 42 | 44.9 | 47.4 | 49.6 | 51.6 |
| Italy | 18.5 | 21.6 | 24.6 | 27.3 | 30.2 | 32.8 |
| Spain | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.4 | 17.2 | 18.8 |
| UK | 29 | 32.3 | 34.4 | 35.5 | 36.9 | 38.3 |
| Total of Five Countries | 118.2 | 131.5 | 143.8 | 154.1 | 164.7 | 174.6 |
| Source: eMarketer, March 2005 | ||||||
| Internet User Growth in Select Countries in Western Europe, 2004-2008 (as % increase vs. prior year) | |||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |||
| France | 9.1 | 10 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 7.5 | ||
| Germany | 7.7 | 7.9 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 4 | ||
| Italy | 16.8 | 13.9 | 11 | 10.6 | 8.6 | ||
| Spain | 19.4 | 16.2 | 13.2 | 11.7 | 9.3 | ||
| UK | 11.4 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 3.8 | ||
| Total of Five Countries | 11.3 | 9.4 | 7.2 | 6.9 | 6 | ||
| Source: eMarketer, March 2005 | |||||||