Social Media's Dominate Display Ads In The UK

A new report from comScore has shown how solidly the internet has become part of European consumer's lives, and in particularly the growing role social media plays - both for consumers and marketers.

The research found that British users spend something in the region of 30 hours a month online on average - that's just under an hour a day - and that Facebook takes up around 12% of that time, which means the average UK online consumer is spending around 7 minutes just on Facebook every day.

Social networks also served over 40% of online display ads in the UK in December 2010, with online display ads now reaching 97% of internet users in the UK, France and Germany.

Around half of European internet users now use TV web sites, such as that of German media giant ProSieben, with users spending around 28 minutes on this type of site per month. In the UK, 11 million online users now watch online videos.

Until now, many online advertisers have avoided display advertising on social media, thanks to low click-through rates. However, the statistics above would suggest that such ads do have a part to play in targeted awareness campaigns.

Similarly, as more consumers look for higher-quality video viewing, more opportunities will arise for video-based advertising, such as pre and post-roll ads or sponsored videos.

Of course, it's important to remember that the most innovative of marketing methods are only are good as the metrics used to measure success. These new types of marketing will require new types of analytics and measurement - is your internet marketing team ready?