'Rapid Rise' in Online Advertising to Continue

The annual value of pan-European online advertising is set to reach £10.8bn ($22bn; £16bn euros) by 2012, more than double that of 2006.

|QUOTE|The report by Forrester - independent technology and market research company - said online adverts would leap to 18% of market share, currently at 9%.

According to Forrester, European internet users now spend 14.3 hours a week online, compared with 11.3 hours watching TV.

Just 4.4 hours a week are spent reading newspapers or magazines, the research group said.

The report said search engines would continue to dominate online advertising spend, followed by display advertisements and e-mails.

"After five years of dipping their toes into the online marketing waters, firms have come to realise that the net is a valuable medium for client acquisition, retention and market expansion," said the study.

The UK would continue to see the most online advertising in the next four years, ahead of Germany and France.