Nielsen: Internet Advertising Up 49%, Online Holiday Shopping Up 43%

Nielsen Media Research reported Tuesday all advertising spending in the U.S. was up 5.1% through the first three quarters of 2006. Leading the increase was Internet ad spending (49.2%), Spanish Language-TV (16.6%), National Newspapers (8.4%) and the Top 100 TV Markets (7.4%).

The Nielsen report said advertising in B2B magazines, radio, local newspapers and smaller spot TV markets decreased or remained flat during the same time period.

Nielsen Net/NetRatings also reported (PDF here) online shopping for the 2006 holiday season was up 43% over 2005 figures.

Carolyn Creekmore, a senior director of media analytics at Nielsen said, “As consumers continue to make the Web a part of their daily media mix, so do advertisers…some of the segments that represent the largest share of advertising online - including financial services, retail and telecommunications - also experienced the greatest increase in ad spending, year over year.”