PricewaterhouseCoopers said online spend in Ireland is due to grow at a rate of 13.4 per cent a year reaching US$60 million by 2009. But growth lags well behind the UK where online spend has outperformed cinema and radio. Just recently, internet spend in the UK actually overtook outdoor for the first time, with €1 billion in annual revenues.

The UK has been helped by the rapid spread of high speed broadband. A recent report in the US forecast the sector could be worth $16 billion by 2009, double its present level. In Europe, the figure is €4.7bn.

Industry observers now believe that online can see credible growth, leaving behind the early days of the internet when its promise was marred by hype. ZenithOptimedia predicts that the internet’s share of the total UK ad market will rise to 6.9 per cent in 2007, compared with 1.2 per cent in 2000, while TV, radio and press will suffer.

Online advertising may have been a long time coming to maturity in Ireland, but now it is seen as a firm option for advertisers.

Posted: 01|17|06 at 11:01 am. Filed under: Auction News.