Alain Heureux of IAB Europe said, "These figures demonstrate without any doubt the significance of the European online advertising industry."
Nearly a third of online advertising spend in 2006 was on all forms of display advertising, 45% on search advertising, 22% on classifieds and directories and 1.6% on e-mail marketing.
In 2007, eMarketer estimates advertisers will spend $7.5 billion to reach all Western Europeans, up 25% from $6.0 billion in 2006.
Online advertising in the UK will account for as much as 18% of all media spending this year, according to GroupM. Online advertisers are spending more enthusiastically in the UK than in any of the other key European markets, and by a substantial margin. eMarketer projects that advertisers will spend $217 per Internet user in the UK in 2011, compared with $136 per French user and only $10 per Italian Internet user.
Compared with this, US advertisers are very laid back. They spent $86 on online advertising per American Internet user in 2006, and they are projected to spend $130 per user in 2010.
