U.K. Digital Ad Market to Hit $8.3B in 2012

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Digital ad spending in the U.K. will reach $8.3 billion this year, according to GroupM. Mobile search is helping to fuel additional spending in digital, suggested the WPP-owned media agency.

Spending in digital is expected to hit $9.4 billion in 2013, an 11 percent increase over this year's projected digital haul. GroupM bases its forecast on data from WPP's global ad and marketing services businesses. The company predicted overall ad spending in the U.K. will reach $20.6 billion this year, noting that the London Olympics there would only generate a "modest hike" of 3.4 percent in U.K. ad spend.

As digital spending rises year-over-year, regional newspaper print ad spend will fall at the same rate. GroupM expects regional newspaper spending in the U.K. market to drop 11 percent from $1.6 billion this year to $1.5 billion in 2013. National papers will see a less-steep decline of 5 percent, said the firm.

GroupM Futures Director Adam Smith suggested smartphone adoption is contributing to digital ad spending growth. "Smartphone proliferation has suddenly made mobile search an urgent priority, while bestowing long-awaited targeting intelligence at scale," he stated in a press release. "Mobile devices are also [fueling] second-screen usage, which is another digital revolution in the making: versatile, universal and ergonomic."