Some of you might have wondered why Mercedes spends half of its marketing budget on digital media in the UK. Now we know the German car-maker is not alone. In the first six months of 2009, internet advertising sales in the UK overtook TV for the first time.
According to figures released by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, internet ad sales rose 4.6% on the year in the first half to £1.75 billion, giving it a market share of 23.5%. TV advertising fell 16.1% to £1.64 billion, dropping into second place with a 21.9% market share. The Wall Street Journal writes:
Analyst Ian Maude of Enders Analysis points to the U.K. consumer's penchant for shopping and the growth of e-commerce, or online shopping, which drives search advertising online. "TV maintains its role as the big daddy of display advertising, but the main driver of Internet advertising in the U.K. has been search and particularly Google Inc.," he said.
Read more: IAB, WSJ, Fischmarkt (in German)
