Keyword ads driving online ad spend growth

27/06/2008

Spending on online advertising is set to grow to $65.2 billion (£32.9 billion) by the end of 2008, driven by expenditure on keyword ads.

This is according to the latest study on the topic from IDC, which suggests that the popularity of internet marketing will grow to help the sector attract almost ten per cent of total ad spend this year.

Furthermore, classified ads and rich media ads will also account for a significant proportion of spending on internet marketing in the next few years, boosting online ad expenditure to make it account for 13.6 per cent of total spend by 2011, IDC said.

John Gantz of IDC commented: "The long-term opportunity for internet advertising can be seen in the disparity between per capita spending.

"Total advertising revenues equate to more than $105 per inhabitant of the planet, while internet advertising revenues are less than $50 per active internet user."

Meanwhile, a recent forecast from JupiterResearch has suggested that some 1.8 billion people around the world will regularly log onto the web by 2012.