Spending on online advertising in the UK looks set to top £1bn in the UK for the first time, fuelled by increased use of broadband.

In the first six months of the year internet advertising expenditure hit £490.8m - up 62 per cent compared to the same time last year - while for the year to June ad spend was £865m.

According to the latest study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) this makes it "a near certainty that online will break the £1bn barrier by the end of 2005."

The growth in online ad spending has even exceeded the targets set by the IAB, leapfrogging spending on outdoor ads.

Guy Phillipson, chief exec of the IAB, said: "These results have surpassed our expectations. At the end of 2004 the IAB predicted online would overtake outdoor by mid-2006 and we've beaten this target. Now the internet looks certain to be a £1bn medium in 2005."

Analysts reckon broadband is being "a leading contributing factor of the record breaking figures" because it has fuelled internet consumption and in turn attracted a greater share of advertisers' spend". ®