• by Wayne Friedman , August 12, 2008

Media spending in the U.S. and most other markets may be in a modest state this year, but a new study suggests China will continue to rocket along with an anticipated gains of 20% or more in 2008.

According to media agency conglomerate Group M, fast-growing China will become the second-largest advertising market in 2010, surpassing Japan. China will close the gap quickly next year to get within 10% of Japan. China will make quick gains, helped by Japan, which is in the throes of a recession. Last year, China overtook Germany to become the world's third-largest ad market.

The report said the current Beijing Olympics will be a major springboard--with overall media investment pegged to a bullish 22% growth in 2008 to $35 million. The Group M report says growth will continue to rocket along in 2009, with a forecast of a 19.5% hike in spending to $42 billion.

Plus, China will represent the biggest piece of the modest growth that is anticipated in the global advertising world in the next few years. China will supply 23% of an anticipated 5.8% growth in global ad spending in 2008 and 30% of an expected 4.5 percent global growth in 2009.

This year, China's main TV network, CCTV, grabbed some $400 million in advertising for the current Beijing Olympics. Group M says this figure represents 6% of all new media investment in the nation in 2008. By comparison, NBC, for its TV advertising efforts, grabbed $1 billion in advertising, according to the U.S.-based network.

The Internet will be good to China; it will find booming business there in the years to come. In the last year alone, China grew a whopping 55% or 90 million to 250 million users. All that makes the Internet China's fastest-growing medium right after TV.

Online gaming is a major piece of China's Internet advertising pie, according to the study. Last year, there was huge growth in embedded advertising in online games in China, where some 120 million online gamers exist.

Group M also said that by 2010, e-commerce will be a booming business, with an estimated 100 million-plus Chinese consumers expected to shop online.