Canadian internet ad spending to be US$2.033 billion by 2011 says PWC study

The annual global look at entertainment and media by Pricewaterhousecoopers LLC says that internet advertising will grow faster in Canada over the next five years than anywhere else in the world. A report on the study was carried in the Globe and Mail. It says that internet advertising will reach US$2.033 billion by 2011, at a compound annual growth rate of 23.5 per cent.

Canadian ad spending online is being driven by the high percentage of broadband Internet users in Canada, which is higher than in most other parts of the world. Meanwhile, online advertising markets in Canada are not yet as saturated as in the United States.

"We have had higher broadband penetration rates than other countries around the world ... and we're now seeing a bigger shift in advertising revenue," said Tracey Jennings, leader of the entertainment and media practice for PwC in Canada.

Print media growth will be much lower than online, but from a much larger base. Ad spending on magazines is expected to expand at a compound annual rate of 1.8 per cent to $1.5-billion, says PWC. The newspaper industry will see compound annual growth of 1 per cent in that time, to $3.2-billion.