Figures published mid December by the IAB in association with PriceWaterhouseCoopers show that in the first six months of last year on-line advertising shot up to a record £151.6 million – reaching the goal of a 2% market share that was set by the group for autumn 2004.
In effect, says the IAB, on-line adspend has doubled in two years. The year-on-year growth for the first two quarters of 2003 was a massive 85%, with the market being valued at £266.5 million for the period between 1st July 2002 and 30th June 2003.
To compare with other sectors, in spring 2003 the on-line ad market was almost twice that of the cinema ad market share at 1.1%, and half the size of the radio market, which held 3.7%.
IAB predicts that on-line adspend will grow faster than in any other media, and "with a united industry will be larger than radio within three years." The group has therefore set a new target of a 4% market share by autumn 2007.