PPC Helps Online Advertising Outspend Television

Almost a year earlier than forecasted, online advertising spend has superseded television expenditure in the UK with paid-for search leading the way. This is the key finding of a study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The study showed that online spending reached £1.752billion, a 4.6% rise, in the first half of this year. This rise took it above television spending which amassed £1.639billion; with this in itself suffering a 16.1% decrease.

The recession is thought to be a key factor for this shift as marketing budgets were stretched to the limit and marketers needed to see more tangible results for their spend.

However, despite this increase in online spend, advertising in general fell 16% compared with the same period in 2008.

Paid-For Search Grows As Leading Online Advertising Expenditure

The umbrella of online advertising encompasses email campaigns, classified adverts, display ads and paid-for search, which enjoys the market share of spend.

Paid-for search has grown in popularity and constitutes 59.8% of all online advertising spend, roughly £1.05bn, for the first half of 2009. The tactile nature of paid-for search has made it easier for marketing departments to release their restricted budgets in this period of recession. It also stems from the continuous growth of search engines like Google and the levels of exposure they can achieve.

Google’s universal search results has also led to the growth of more than just excellent SEO content and PPC campaigns, particularly with the advent of video as a growing marketing tool.

“Internet Advertising Beats All Expectations”

The interactive and personal nature that derives from a short online video is more likely to retain a visitor’s attention than most other techniques. This is also a targeted medium that appeals directly to an audience already invested in learning more about a particular product or service. Whereas television advertising generally reaches a large demographic of viewers, it is hard to pin-point its relevance in terms of calls to action. The statistical nature and tactile results that online video - and online advertising in general – produces is more appealing to a client’s budget in this period of tightened purse-strings.

The study also identified who the top spenders in online advertising are. Technology firms ranked as the highest, accounting for 19.1% of the market, with Telecoms taking 13.3% and Finance with 13.2%. Entertainment, Media and Consumer Goods also saw growth in the first half of the year.

Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau, said: “Internet advertising has beaten all expectations to achieve growth in the most challenging market conditions. Online display has performed notably well against its peers in TV, print and radio despite more than £1.5 billion being wiped off the advertising industry. We have a rollercoaster of a year ahead but even in tough economic conditions marketers still recognise the value, accountability and measurability of online advertising.”

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