Online advertising spend on the rise

iReach research has today revealed that Irish online advertising spend is set to reach €35m by the end of 2007, with mobile marketing accounting for almost 5% of this.

“The power of the digital consumer is increasingly dramatically in Ireland, and the outlook for 2007 is for the market to grow by at least 30%,” said Sinead Daly, iReach Analyst.

“In the UK, internet advertising has already overtaken national press advertising, growing 41.2% to £2.02bn (€2.97bn) last year.

“It is also now more than half the size of television advertising, the UK’s single biggest medium, which experienced a fall of 4.7% to £3.9bn (€5.74bn). The Irish market seems to be continuing in the same direction.”

The increase in online spending is believed to have boosted the entire advertising industry at a time when expenditure on traditional forms of media is in decline.

“The upward momentum of the internet reflects a new era in marketing communication and consumer behaviour,” said Daly.

“The continued broadband growth in Ireland as well as the explosion of user-generated content and social networking has been a driving force of these changes.

“Companies are continuing to switch more of the budgets online in order to build their brand and engage with their customers.

“With consumers now experiencing better internet connections in their homes, through broadband and wireless connections routers, the growth of online advertising is set to continue unabated.”