Internet-based advertising will grow by 10.1 per cent during 2009, a new report has said.

The study by ZenithOptimedia found that search engine marketing will account for the majority of the expansion as companies look to the "transparency, accountability and flexibility" of the web to get the best return on investment, UTalkMarketing stated.

Globally, the company said advertising will experience an 8.5 per cent decline – up from its previous forecast of a 6.9 per cent fall.

A "mild recovery" is expected in the sector during 2010, although North America will experience a third consecutive year of decline and growth in western Europe is expected to flatline.

Growth will instead be driven by emerging markets, with China’s market expected to increase by 5.4 per cent and India’s ad growth forecast to hit 7.7 per cent.

By 2011, the company said, the global market should have completely recovered from the down and it predicts that worldwide spending on advertising will increase by 4.3 per cent.

According to the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, spending on online ads is expected to overtake expenditure on TV ads by the end of this year.

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