‘Recession will boost online ad spend by 5%’
The recession will accelerate the migration to digital technology, with online taking an even bigger slice of the UK advertising market, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
According to PwC’s latest Entertainment and Media Outlook report, UK internet advertising will reach 34% of the entire advertising market by 2013, with spend up 5.36% to $8.4bn (£5.1bn).
Over that time, newspapers’ share of UK advertising will drop from 26% last year to 19.1% by 2013, with spend dipping 7.94% to $4.7bn (£2.8bn).
Television’s slice of the UK advertising market will drop slightly from 22.2% to 21.75%, while spend will dip 2.4% to $5.3bn ($3.2bn).
PwC head of entertainment and media Phil Stokes says the rise in internet access provides an opportunity for those “who focus on driving and leading change.”
He adds the recession will only quicken the pace of change. “Perhaps surprisingly, a slowing economy will accelerate the migration to digital technologies among both providers and consumers of content, meaning the industry that went into the recession will be very different from the one to emerge the other side,” he says.
Revenue from video game ads, albeit from a lower base, is expected to “outpace” other mediums, the report says, growing 16.11% by 2013.
Online ad spend has been on the rise for some time, growing by 20% year on year to reach €12.9bn (£11bn) in 2008, according to recent figures from IAB Europe.
