Firms’ spending on internet ads to surge in 2017

Businesses around the world are set to spend more on internet advertising than on television for the first time in 2017, forecaster ZenithOptimedia said yesterday.

Zenith said it expected internet advertising to grow at more than three times the rest of the industry in 2016, driven by demand for ads on social media, online video, and paid search.

The forecaster had said in December that it expected ad spending on the internet to overtake TV only in 2018.