Internet Ad Share To Break Double Digit Barrier

ZenithOptimedia says that this will be the first time internet advertising has a double-digit share anywhere in the world.

By 2008 ZenithOptimedia expects there to be eight markets where the internet ad share exceeds 10%: Australia, Isreal, Japan, Norway, South Korea and Taiwan. In the UK and Sweden internet ad share is expected to reach 17.2% and 13.3% respectively in 2008.

The internet’s share of global ad expenditure is expected to be 5.7% in 2006 and 7.3% in 2008, up from 4.7% in 2005, with ZenithOptimedia saying that at this rate, the internet’s ad share should reach double-digits worldwide by 2011.

In addition, the internet is forecast to overtake outdoor’s share of total ad expenditure this year, and is closing in on radio. ZenithOptimedia says that the gap between the internet and radio’s share will narrow from 3.9 percentage points in 2005 to 0.7 points in 2008.

The report adds that advertisers in the top-ten categories have been cautious about moving into internet advertising. Between 2001 and 2005 the proportion of their budgets allocated to the internet increased from 2.2% to 3.2%.

Over the same period the internet’s share of total ad expenditure rose from 2.5% to 4.7%, meaning that advertisers from smaller categories have been spending above average on internet advertising, which is relatively cheap and can be targeted very effectively.