So, another milestone for online;  internet advertising spend has passed TV in its share of the advertising cake.  The IAB reports that online advertising now has a 23.5 % share of the ad market compared to TV’s  21.9%.  

The TV trade marketing body Thinkbox doesn’t like it, claiming that it’s not fair to lump all internet marketing spend into one pot.  But the reality is that the Internet’s share is likely to be even higher than that reported here.

Despite the fact that they condemn TV to second place, the likelihood is that the TV figures are more accurate than the Internet figures  - which are almost certain to be an underestimate. This is because the TV market is supplied by a much smaller number of larger individual players (mostly public companies), making accurate reporting and measurement more feasible. Online spend is established through a analysis of a sample of 135 online advertising companies, but internet transactions are facilitated by a long tail of hundreds of small companies which makes accurate measurement more difficult.  Clearly there is further online advertising expenditure beyond the 135 companies surveyed.

Interestingly, online is the only medium that is growing; all other channels are in decline with press classified down by nearly 40%, directories down by 25%, outdoor down 22%, press display down 20% and TV down 16%.

The 40% decline in classified makes me feel quite proud.  Sometime around 2000, whilst Communciation Planning Director at Initiative, I was asked to address the Newspaper Society’s annual conference and discuss the likely effects of the internet on the newspaper business. The Newspaper Society represents regional press titles, who rely on classified advertising as a key source of revenue. Much to the very real consternation and irritation of the audience I informed the gathered delegates that if they didn’t adapt to the internet, they were staring extinction in the face.  I think they consoled themselves by thinking either a) I was an idiot or b) I was joking.