European Online Ad Spend Gains on U.S.

Online ad spend in Europe grew to $17.4 billion in 2007, according to the results of the IAB Europe's annual AdEx survey, released today.

The figures represent an average year-on-year growth rate of 40 percent across the 16 countries covered in the report, compared with a steadily slowing growth rate in the U.S., which tapered to 26 percent in 2007.

If both markets continue to grow at their current rates, European online ad spending will surpass that of the U.S. by 2010.

"Despite a slowdown in ad spend on some traditional media, the rise of online advertising in Europe continues unabated," said IAB Europe President Alain Heureux in a statement.

"Not only is the growth coming from some of the smaller markets, but also from the more mature countries as companies move their advertising budgets online for the first time," he added.

Although the U.K., Germany, and France accounted for around two thirds of the overall European spend, some smaller, less developed markets experienced high growth rates, such as Greece at over 90 percent and Slovenia at nearly 50 percent.

The report also examined the average online ad spend per user last year, in an attempt to evaluate the net worth of a single user to an advertiser. Advertisers in the U.S. spent more per Web user than their counterparts overseas. The pan-European average weighed in at $125 per person, compared with $143 per person in the U.S.

Within Europe, Norwegian advertisers were the biggest spenders, putting $207 towards each person online, followed by the U.K. at $187. Online advertisers in France, on the other hand, spent an average of just $59 per user.

Heureux predicted online advertising will account for at least ten percent of overall ad spend in ten European countries by 2010, a mark already met by seven European markets by the end of 2007. Online share of total ad spending in the U.K. was 15 percent last year, while spending online in the Netherlands came out in front at 19 percent.

The survey results exceed the original predictions made by the IAB Europe in December, which estimated a total spend of $16.6 billion and a year-on-year increase of 38 percent.

The report was compiled by the IAB Europe, and processed and analyzed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The total spend was calculated using data from all sixteen IAB branches across Europe: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the U.K.

National IABs throughout Europe do not use the same method for data collection, so some figures were adjusted in order to make them "realistically comparable."

Published by: Jack Marshall

Published 3rd June, 2008

Add comment