Online ad spending rises 12% in 1st quarter, Nielsen says

Worldwide spending on online advertising rose by 12.1 percent during the first quarter, reports Nielsen.

Across the board: television, newspapers, radio, outdoor, and Internet advertising all saw an increase in advertising spending, up from the same quarter last year. Magazines are the only media section to have suffered, falling into negative spending.

On the whole, ad spending grew by 3.1 percent globally, despite euro zone troubles and recession.

While television remains at the heart of the advertising industry, Internet advertising saw the highest overall increase.

Internet advertising spending saw growth in Europe at 12.1 percent amid a gloomy and stale economic outlook, but saw huge bumps to Latin America by 31.8 percent and in the Middle East and Africa at 35.2 percent.

Meanwhile, television advertising grew by 4 percent in North America and 7.5 percent in Latin America. But ad spending saw a massive 33.8 percent growth in the Middle East and Africa region. 

Radio spending grew globally and saw a modest growth in spending: 2.6 percent increase in North America and a 2.8 percent boost in Europe. However, the Middle East and Africa saw the highest growth at 21.1 percent, showing the age-old 'wireless' is still pegging in as an important medium in a region still without widespread Internet connectivity.

All in all, the Middle East and Africa regions saw the most growth compared to modest increases in the United States.

It goes to show that the online advertising market is steady and stable, and already well established in the U.S. and Canadian markets, while the Middle East and Africa continue to show a promising rise. The reason for overall growth is due to strong consumer confidence, Nielsen said.

This story originally appeared at ZDNet's Between the Lines under the headline "Nielsen: Online ad spending up 12 percent in Q1 2012."