UK advertising costs forecast

[img_assist|nid=7961|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=58] This year is to see advertising expenses raise on social networks such as Bebo and Facebook. The increase is to account for 77% from £65m to £115m as the activity continues to grow in popularity in the UK.

£285m, a 148% increase over 2008 is planned to be spent in 2012 according to the research by eMarketer.
Last year in UK the number of internet users participated in online social networking made up 11 million which is 30 percent of all Internet subscribers.

Social networking advertising costs in UK account for 68 percent of those in Western Europe.

Nevertheless social sites represent a tiny portion of UK online ad spend at just 3.4% in 2008.

"Though social network advertising is forecast to grow aggressively this year, it will only do so if social network operators can develop substantial metrics showing the value and performance of the advertising," notes Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst specialising in social networking and author of the report.