Spending on online marketing to rise for 19% of firms

14th July 2008

A new report has revealed that 19 per cent of UK firms intend to increase expenditure on internet marketing activities, despite the economic downturn affecting spending in other parts of the advertising sector.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's Bellwether report for the second quarter of this year suggests that while increasing costs and falling sales have led to budget cutbacks across advertising in general, a significant proportion of firms still mean to spend more on the medium.

According to the publication, a third successive quarter of downward revision of advertising budgets means this is the worst period for the sector since the 9/11 attacks.

But Omnicom Europe's Anthony Wreford said in the Guardian: "Internet spending will continue to grow as more clients see the importance of this form of communication and the ability to use this medium, like PR, in a tactical context."

ZenithOptimedia recently released a report indicating that internet marketing's share of the global advertising market will surpass the ten per cent mark this year.