Online advertising is as good a way of targeting consumers as campaigns for television, a new report suggests.

According to findings from studies conducted by comScore and dunnhumbyUSA, looking at how successful web marketing is at converting retail sales of consumer packaged goods, internet advertising proved to build sales by an average of nine per cent, compared with eight per cent for television – as measured by Information Resources.

Commenting on the results, comScore’s executive chairman Gian Fulgoni remarked that the more exact targeting capabilities of the internet were key to its effectiveness as an online marketing tool.

"That is meaningful in and of itself, but when you take into account the fact that online advertising is generally less costly than television, these results take on even greater significance," he said.

In the annual Honomichl Report, comScore was ranked as the fastest-growing market research firm in the US for 2008, based on its global revenue of $117.4 million (£71.6 million).

News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, PPC, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.