U.K. Digital Ad Spend Grew 13 Percent in 2010

Marketers in the U.K. spent 12.8 percent more on digital advertising in 2010 than they did in 2009, reaching a total of £4.1 billion ($6.1 billion), according to the IAB U.K.’s bi-annual advertising spend study.

The survey, conducted on the IAB’s behalf by PricewaterhouseCoopers, estimated the digital channel now accounts for 25 percent of overall U.K. ad spend, which stood at £16.6 billion ($27 billion) last year.

Growth in digital was driven by spending on social media, video, and mobile advertising channels, the report suggested, which saw year-over-year spending increases of 200 percent, 91 percent, and 116 percent, respectively.

Investment in search advertising, meanwhile, continued its consistent growth, increasing 8 percent year-over-year to reach £2.3 billion ($3.7 billion), or 57 percent of total online ad spend in 2010. That represents a slight decrease in share versus 2009, when it accounted for 61 percent of digital investment.

Meanwhile the display ad category – which includes social media and video ads – increased its share of spending by three percentage points to reach a total of 23 percent. That growth suggests marketers may be reallocating portions of their search budgets to display.

In terms of advertiser verticals, consumer packaged goods manufacturers accounted for 12 percent of display investment in the first half of the year, which increased to a 13 percent share for its final six months. The biggest display ad spender was finance, however, which accounted for a 15.2 percent share of spend.