Net Ads ‘To Overtake TV By 2009’

The internet will attract more advertising money than television in the UK within the next two years, predicts a new study.

Media agency Group M forecasts that spending on internet adverts will grow to almost one-quarter of the sector’s total expenditure in 2008, which means it will need to grow by just another 6% to take over spending on TV commercials.

According to report author Adam Smith, 2009 is likely to be the year when this changeover occurs and the UK will become the world’s first major economy to experience it.

“The UK is a special case,” says Smith, futures director at the media planning and buying group.

“Its TV share (of all media spend) is depressed by the BBC and there is still a large and healthy print sector and Britons are among the world’s heaviest internet users.”

He adds: “The internet is not one medium, its growth rate is a blend of three distinct businesses growing at different speeds: search, display and classified.

“Most of the growth is coming from search advertising and that is being fuelled by either new money or from the direct marketing sector, not so much from TV ad budgets.”

Smith also predicts that display and classified advertising online will experience growth of about 20% this year, while search advertising is likely to increase by some 35% during the course of the year.

Further details on this story can be seen at Guardian Unlimited and the Independent.