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Online advertising spend has continued to overtake direct mail, growing by 21 per cent year-on-year to £1.7m during the first half of 2008, according to a new report.

The latest figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), PricewaterhouseCoopers and World Advertising Research Centre (WARC) reveals Internet advertising has increased its market share to 19 per cent, despite the economic downturn.

The total advertising market was £8.5m, down 0.7 per cent year-on-year during the same period last year. The research also shows the advertising market would have experienced a 4.6 per cent decline without the Internet’s growth.

IAB chief executive officer Guy Phillipson says: “Online is not immune from the economic downturn, but while other sectors see falls in expenditure the Internet is still experiencing an incredible increase and is propping up the entire advertising market. The growth in Internet advertising spend is beating all expectations as advertisers look to maximise their budgets, and take advantage of new display advertising formats such as video. They are also increasing their investment in paid-for search marketing because it delivers measurable returns on investment.”