Thus, the European market, which increased 21 percent like-for-like last year, is expected to register a 20 percent growth rate, double that of the American market, worth €16.6 bln, which would significantly reduce the gap between the two.
Officials of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in European countries, interviewed by Business Standard, are forecasting local growth rates ranging from several percent to over 20 percent.
In Romania, the market amounted to €19 million in 2008, according to the Romanian Online Advertising Study (ROADS), conducted by IAB Romania and the PricewaterhouseCoopers financial advisory company. However, the study did not take into account advertisements on search and contextual engines, which make up some 45 percent of the European average of online expenses. On average, estimates for 2009 indicate a 20 percent drop in the market in the first six months.
