TMCnet News
Google boosts ad spending by 50% in UK(Guardian (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) It may take the lion's share of advertising spending online, but Google is also raising its spending on adverts in the UK, which was up by 50% last year to pounds 45m, ahead of telecoms firm O2, National Lottery operator Camelot and confectionery firm Mars. After five years of advertising in Britain Google is at No 31 in the top 100 UK advertisers, according to Nielsen Ad Dynamix, which monitors ad spending on TV and radio, in print, online and by direct mail. Google may be trying to lure big brand advertisers away from television but, according to industry estimates, in 2013 it spent pounds 15m on traditional TV adverts. But it does not give a breakdown on where its ad spending goes and declined to comment. Google began advertising on television in 2009. Since then it has used traditional media to promote products such as its Chrome browser, although it still pursues a "digital first" approach to marketing and advertising. Much of last year's increase in Google's ad spend was on promoting its Chromecast media player and Nexus 7 tablet, particularly in the Christmas period. According to Nielsen's Rob Tavendale there was a marked rise in the advertising of smartphones and tablets in 2013, with Google and Microsoft both increasing their year on year spending by 50%, and Sony Mobile by 108%. The biggest UK advertiser in 2013 was BSkyB, spending pounds 264m. (c) 2014 Guardian Newspapers Limited. |