LONDON (Reuters) - Online advertising spending surged 66 percent to 1.37 billion pounds ($2.39 billion) in 2005, according to new data released on Tuesday, giving it a 7.8 percent market share -- ahead of radio, consumer magazines and outdoor ads.
Internet ad spending, which had a market share of 4.9 percent in 2004, has grown as more consumers sign up for broadband and marketers direct more of their budgets online.
Growth was driven in part by classified ads, which grew by 62.4 percent to 262.2 million pounds, the Internet Advertising Bureau said.
By comparison, UK newspapers are suffering through a dismal classified ad market. Print classifieds fell 5.1 percent in 2005. Based on current trends, national newspapers' share of advertising spending could soon be surpassed by online, even as publishers make acquisitions to bolster their own online businesses.
"These figures surpassed all our initial expectations," said IAB Chief Executive Guy Phillipson. "Our next milestone is 2 billion pounds -- a real possibility within the next 12 months, which would make online bigger than national press."
Search marketing through companies like Google saw the biggest gains, growing 78.8 percent to 768.4 million pounds in 2005.
Recruitment was the biggest online ad category with 22 percent of the market, followed by finance (17.4 percent), automotive (12.4 percent) and entertainment and media (10.2 percent).
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