UK Online Ad Spending Set to Surpass TV in '09

Despite the fact that advertising-supported television has always been a much smaller ad outlet in the UK than in the US, it is still interesting to note a recent report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) that advertising spending online is set to overtake television advertising by the end of 2009. This must be among the first examples of online media poised to overtake traditional advertising spending in any market. Some of the tidbits in the article:

• Display advertising increased 41%, with portals and publishers leading the way in inventory sold, although ad networks are beginning to pick up (40% of total sales)
• Paid search was categorized as maturing
• Classified advertising grew at over 50%

I'm curious to find out if this inversion of spend relative to other markets will lead to a pattern of online advertising innovation to come out of the UK market. Looking at the growth in spend in the UK, this doesn't appear to be close to happening, but it would seem that the willingness to spend online will soon change this.