Online advertising ´overtakes TV´

Online advertising spending in the UK has overtaken television expenditure for the first time, a report has said.

Online spending grew 4.6% to £1.752bn in the first half of 2009, while TV spending shrank 16.1% to £1.639bn.

Overall advertising fell 16% compared with the same period in 2008, said the study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

E-mail campaigns, classified adverts, display ads and search marketing are all classed as online advertising.

The body representing UK commercial television broadcasters said that the comparison was unfair.

'Huge milestone'

The recession had accelerated the migration of advertising spending to digital technology - from more traditional media such as print, radio and television advertising to online, according to the report.

Justin Pearse, editor of industry website New Media Age, said the tough economic times had led to a significant fall in TV advertising spending, which saw it being overtaken about a year earlier than most had expected."It had to happen eventually, but online advertising has been seen as the poor cousin to TV for so long that it's still a huge milestone."

Technology firms were the biggest spenders on online adverts, making up about 19% of the market, the report said, followed by telecoms firms, the finance sector and entertainment and media.