Online advertising ‘has benefited from the downturn’

Online advertising has in a sense benefited from the recession, it is claimed.

Eva Berg-Winters, senior manager and new media specialist at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: “My gut feeling is that the downturn has enhanced the shift towards online advertising.”

However, the expert acknowledged that it is a “complex topic”, because advertising as a whole has been subject to a wider decline “to which the internet is no longer immune”.

She added that search in particular has “strongly benefited” and has increased its market share in the UK.

According to a new report from ZenithOptimedia, internet advertising has held up even better than was predicted three months ago.

The study finds that factors such as increased transparency, accountability and flexibility have meant that online advertising has been even more attractive than ever during the recession.

It predicts that global internet ad expenditure will grow by 10.1 per cent in 2009, ahead of an 8.6 per cent prediction it made in April.