ZenithOptimedia, a media services company wholly owned by Publicis Group, has released their ad spend forecast for 2008, indicating that global spending will grow 6.7%, up from 5.3% in 2007. Online advertising is projected to grow 24% in 2008.

Some of the key drivers behind this global growth are the: Olympics in China, Presidential elections in the US, and Football in Europe. Furthermore, developing economies have taken over as the growth engine for advertising, as growth in the more developed economies has slowed.

The ad market will be boosted by US$6 billion in spending from the ‘quadrennial events’ in 2008: US$3 billion from the Olympics, US$2 billion from the Presidential and congressional elections in the US, and US$1 billion from the European football tournament Euro 2008. The quadrennial accounts for almost all of the acceleration in 2008: without it, growth would remain flat at 5.4%.

Internet advertising will be worth US$36 billion this year (2007) – US$5 billion more than we predicted in December 2006. We forecast it to grow 24% in 2008 and 69% over the next three years, reaching US$61 billion in 2010. The traditional media to grow 5% and 14% respectively over the same periods.

Internet advertising is predicted to pass three milestones over the next three years: we expect it to overtake radio advertising in 2008, to attain a double-digit share of global advertising in 2009, and to overtake magazine advertising in 2010, with 11.5% of total adspend.

Even then there will remain plenty of scope for further growth. Internet advertising already takes over 15% of adspend in four markets (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK). By 2010 we forecast the internet to take more than 20% in the same four markets and more than 15% of adspend in 10. [MobiAdNews/ZenithOptimedia]