Industry news

Internet advertising will soar, says analyst

The amount that companies spend on internet advertising is set to soar from $65.2 billion (£32.8 billion) to more than $106 billion globally over the next three years, according to new research.

IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast has predicted that advertisers will increasingly turn to the web as to attract customers, with spending on internet advertising expected to grow from ten per cent of all advertising spending to 13.6 per cent by 2011.

Chief research officer at IDC John Gantz pointed out that advertising on the internet is still not as popular as other methods.

"By the end of the forecast period, spending for internet advertising will trail direct mail … by more than $30 billion, while spending on TV and print ads will each be nearly twice as great as for online ads," he commented.

Internet advertisers will have a growing audience, according to another survey from IDC, which predicts that the number of internet users around the world will reach almost two billion by 2012.