According to ZenithOptimedia’s latest quarterly revision of its ongoing global ad tracking study, online advertising will soon make up for over 10% of the ad market share in UK and Sweden, with 12.9 and 10.5%, respectively. This is the first time that the Internet ad medium has occupied such a large share in any major world market.
Ready to overtake outside advertising
On the point of overtaking outside advertising to become the fifth most important ad medium, the Internet is closing the gap rapidly with radio, currently ranked in fourth place. Although the forecast is good, with other major markets such as Australia, Israel, Norway, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan poised to break into double figures, some sources are more cautious. Whereas ZenithOptimedia’s predicts an 84% increase in ad spending between 2005 and 2008, according the Publicis media agency does not expect online advertising to make it into double figures globally until 2011.
Present growth due to SMEs
The present growth in online advertising is chiefly due to SMEs. As it is relatively cheap and effectively targeted, it better adapts to their needs than traditional media campaigns, which can be expensive and wasteful.
