Online advertising in Ireland on the rise

Online advertising spending in Ireland surpassed outdoor, magazine and cinema advertising in 2009, reaching €97.2 million and accounted for 10% of the total spend.

According to the first IAB Ireland and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) ad spend study, online advertising will continue to grow in 2010.

PwC’s Bartley O’Connor said: “Online in Ireland has overtaken outdoor, magazine and cinema advertising, reflecting its move to centre stage. As it continues to grow and develop as a platform for entertainment, information and communication for Irish users, so too will the advertising revenues it will attract.”

In mature advertising markets like the UK, online advertising is already ahead of TV and press advertising, while in Ireland the ranking is currently led by press, followed by TV, radio and then online.

However, it looks like online advertising in Ireland will continue to eat into the market and take a significant annual share.

Suzanne McElligott, chief executive of IAB Ireland, said: “This is a really opportune time for online advertising in Ireland. Nothing will be the same from here on.

“Looking forward, what we’ve seen across Europe, once online reaches 10% of media share there is a tremendous growth.”

McElligott added, “We are now at 10.3% and that was during a period when the economy was most challenged.”