Internet advertising overtaking TV

Internet ad spend is eclipsing that of traditional TV in an increasing number of key international markets.

Media agency ZenithOptimedia monitors ad spend across all media around the world. It said this morning that the internet will be the dominant medium in 12 key markets in 2017 and will globally generate more ad revenue than traditional TV by the end of the decade.

Its figures show that the Internet was a bigger ad revenue earner than TV in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK in 2014, and another five territories, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand, will join that list over the next couple of years.

Globally, TV will remain the TV ad revenue leader, but the overall gap between it and the internet is closing. Zenith said the gap will shrink from 11 percentage points this year to just four in 2017.

“The internet is quickly establishing itself as the dominant advertising medium, and on current trends will overtake television by the end of the decade,” said Steve King, ZenithOptimedia’s CEO, Worldwide.

He added: “However, this refers only to traditional television viewed on TV sets. The amount of time viewers spend watching online video on their laptops, tablets and smartphones is increasing rapidly, and advertisers are shifting their budgets online to follow them. The spread of internet devices and new advertising technology will give advertisers new opportunities to communicate with and learn from consumers, and to do so more effectively than ever before.”

Zenith forecasts that global ad spend will grow 4.2% to US$531 billion this year and that  there will be 5% overall growth in 2016, boosted by the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and the US Presidential elections.