Europe ‘to outpace US video growth’

The rate of growth in online video viewers in Europe is to outpace that in the US between now and 2012, it has been claimed.

Internet analyst eMarketer reports that the UK is leading such growth, with the largest share of the market in Europe.

Expanding availability of broadband in the UK, as well as in France, Germany and Scandinavia, is suggested as a driving force behind the success.

Meanwhile, eMarketer cites a study from ABI Research which predicts that expenditure on video advertising in Europe in 2012 will be more than ten times that in 2008.

ABI Research previously noted that there are two means of generating revenue from providing video content to website visitors.

These include charging a fee for downloading such content and charging advertisers to be associated with a particular video.

But the organisation found that many advertisers are focusing on the latter, allowing videos to be downloaded for free in order to establish a large viewer base.