Advertising spend in UK down

UK advertising spend in the UK fell by four per cent to £18.6 billion last year, according to new research.
The figure, released by the Advertising Association, shows that the decline affected all key media sectors apart from internet marketing and cinema adverts.

Press advertising received the greatest amount of marketing spend during 2008, accounting for £6.8 billion.

However, the amount was down 11.8 per cent when compared with 2007 figures.

Television advertising received the second biggest advertising spend, racking up £4.4 billion, but this figure was still 4.9 per cent lower than the previous year.

The biggest climber was internet advertising spend, which climbed by 19.1 per cent to £3.6 billion.

Meanwhile, according to Kevin Gibbons of SEOptimise, continued investment in search engine optimisation is essential if businesses are to survive the recession.

Writing for Econsultancy, Mr Gibbons said: "It is those firms which continue to focus on raising their online presence that will come out on top."
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