UK Net Advertising Surpasses Print

Internet advertising is a big business in the UK, and according to a new report, it’s reached record proportions.  Over 2 billion pounds - that’s about $3.95 billion - was spent in 2006, which represents a 41% increase over the previous year’s figures.  Even more important is the fact that only $3.73 billion was spent on newspaper advertising.

That’s right - for the first time ever, online ads beat out their print counterparts.  The report, which was produced by the Internet Advertising Bureau and BBC article reveals that there was only a meager 0.2% increase in spending on newspaper ads in 2006, but at least the industry managed to avoid a loss.  And although “TV advertising . . . experienced a 4.7% fall in spending,” it still raked in around $7.66 billion (almost double the earnings of those Internet ads).

Nevertheless, the Brits appear to be on advertising’s cutting edge.  With their online spending “representing 11.4% of total advertising revenues,” according to