• The Guardian, Wednesday, March 28, 2007 12:30 PM

Thanks to a huge surge in 2006, online ad spending in Britain has overtaken that of the print newspaper business, Britain´s Interactive Advertising Bureau was proud to report. Web spending, which grew an astonishing 41 percent, was nearly $3.97 billion, while the press industry last year recorded a "barely discernible" 0.2 percent rise, hitting 3.72 billion. In other media, TV revenues fell 4.7 percent, while radio os forecasted to be down 3 percent.

Britain is widely considered to be the world´s leader in online advertising, as underscored by its tremendous year-over-year rise. Web spending now accounts for a remarkable 11.4 percent of the country´s ad market, which only grew 1.1 percent overall in 2006. In the U.S., where TV is still by far the dominant industry, online ad spending comprises roughly 7-7.5 percent of ad spending.

IAB chief Guy Phillipson is confident the strong Web growth will continue. "With consumers now enjoying even faster broadband and installing wireless routers in their homes, the growth of online advertising in the UK is set to continue unabated."

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