14 DAY TRIAL // The Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe has released new data on online advertising in Europe for 2008. The research was conducted in collaboration with PirceWaterHouseCoopers and showed some worrying figures as growth in Internet advertising slowed down in 2008 in the majority of the European Countries surveyed.
"While the pan-European figure is one of growth, it is no secret that 2008 was one of the worst years for advertising in any medium,” the study said. "The online sector was not immune and experienced a challenging year, particularly in the 10 most mature markets. The key difference is it did still manage growth – albeit at a lower rate."
The European market for online advertising in the 19 countries researched in the report added up to €12.9 billion ($18 billion) in 2008, a 20 percent increase over the previous year. This was a much better outcome than the US market, which only grew 10.6 percent in the same time period but was still bigger overall at $23.4 billion (€16.6 billion). However the 20 percent in Europe may not be totally accurate as it was the median average for the 19 countries surveyed. But the biggest markets in Europe, which make up the majority of the income, had much lower rates. Most of the top 10 markets, which made 93 percent of the €12.9 billion, were below the 20 percent mark but the rate was raised by spectacular growth in small markets such as Slovenia, which saw a 77 percent increase in online advertising income.
Of the total in online advertising spending, search advertising retained its top spot, making up for 43 percent of the advertising budgets, up from 41 percent in 2007 with a year over year growth rate of 26 percent. The second biggest classified spending, which accounted for 26 percent of the total with a 17 percent increase from the previous year. The second biggest share was for classified ad spending, which accounted for 26 percent of the total with a 17 percent increase from the previous year.