Spending on advertisements using the Web will overtake radio in 2008, a year earlier than forecast, according to new data released today. ZenithOptimedia, a media planning and buying firm, said it expects the Internet to account for 8 percent of the world’s total advertising spending in 2008, compared with 7.9 percent for radio.
Norway, Sweden and the UK are three markets were the Web already accounts for more than 10 percent of advertising expenditure and this is expected to grow to 11 countries in two years. The Internet has its highest ad market share in the UK, where it is expected to attract 16.6 percent of advertising spending this year and 22.6 percent in 2009, ZenithOptimedia said.
Fastest-growing ad markets in the next two years are expected to be the Middle East and central and eastern Europe, with high oil prices providing a boost to several countries. Qatar and Egypt are expected to see their ad markets grow by 304 percent and 221 percent respectively between 2005-2009.
Global advertising spending is forecast to rise 5.2 percent this year, on a par with its long-term trend, but this figure masks different growth rates in various media such as outdoor advertising, newspapers, magazines, cinema and television. In 2008, the global ad market is expected to enjoy a short-term boost from the summer Olympics, presidential elections in the US and European soccer championship - events that traditionally stimulate advertising spending.
Ad spending on the Web is expected to grow six times faster than traditional media between 2006 and 2009. ZenithOptimedia said apart from the Internet, only cinema and outdoor advertising are expected to grow faster than the market to 2009. The company has downgraded its forecasts for newspapers and magazines as publishers spend more on online products and less in print, adding that newspaper spending is essentially stagnant.
(Source: Reuters/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)