GroupM's "Interaction 2009" report predicts 4% growth in U.S. online ad spending in 2009, to $22.77 billion. Growth will then increase 7% next year. Worldwide, online spending is expected to climb 9% in 2009, returning to double-digit growth in 2010.

The rise in worldwide spending to $58.17 billion this year will mean that online takes 13.2% of total ad dollars. GroupM predicts that share will increase to 14.6% in 2010.

According to the report, spending increases on search and mobile, along with the declining spending in traditional media, are fueling the gains online.

Of particular, note, GroupM found Internet spending outperformed all other media channels during the recession.

Video, which the research firm said was succeeding social media as "the new digital darling," is also a driving force behind online spending in the U.S.

"Search is a critical component of paid media, but a tipping point has been reached," Rob Norman, CEO of GroupM Interaction, tells research firm eMarketer. "For several years the focus has been almost entirely on the rapid rise of Google and the implications of an auction-based marketplace for the advertising industry.

Added Norman: "But now a shift is underway to reclaim the world of 'intention marketing' from paid search to allocate investment, and return, more comprehensively across multiple disciplines."

Norman said a combination of paid and organic search, along with mobile and social media marketing, would "fulfill the original promise of search."

In the UK, Internet ad spending just surpassed TV adverting, according to a report by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, as the Web now accounts for 23.5% of all ad money, while TV ad spend accounts for 21.9% of marketing budgets.

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