Global ad spending is forecast to increase about 17 percent from 2006 to 2009, according to ZenithOptimedia , World Digital Media Trends 2007 reported.

In terms of growth, the Internet takes the lead ahead of all other channels, with nearly 75 percent growth, much higher than those following, cinema and outdoor, which are expected to increase 25.3 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

TV, magazines and radio are also expected to rise between 11 to 15 percent from 2006 to 2009, while newspapers will lag behind with only 9.5 percent (see image).

In Asia, the advertising market growth is generally a bit higher than the global average – the overall ad spending is expected to rise 20.87 percent from 2006 to 2009. The Internet is also the frontrunner there, which is forecast to increase nearly 72 percent. Cinema will also outperform with 41 percent growth in Asia, according to ZenithOptimedia..

According to a report from GroupM in its recent outlook on India they say that the overall size of Indian advertising industry is set to touch Rs 24,900 crore in 2009 compared to Rs 22,864 crore in 2008, thereby registering a growth of 8.9 per cent

For further reports on Internet usage on India, see more in the article of ‘Report Internet Usage’ India.

To give a better view about the worldwide expectations, let’s look at a recent report from Ovum industry consulting firm. It said that broadband-service providers will see their revenue from mobile services jump to US$137 billion worldwide by 2014, up 450 percent from 2008.

But the number of mobile broadband users will likely outpace revenue growth as competition drives prices lower and because most of the new clients will come from less wealthy users in emerging markets, Ovum said.

The number of mobile broadband users — both through handsets and laptop computers — should top two billion in 2014, up over 1,000 percent from 181 million in 2008, with the Asia Pacific emerging as a key driver, it said.

“The most aggressive growth comes from emerging markets, where the unavailability of fixed broadband offers a major opportunity for mobile broadband players,” the consultancy said in its latest research.

Looking at the Asia Pacific region: it said that 40 percent of total mobile laptop users will come from the by 2014, powered by increasing usage in China and India, the world’s two most populous nations.

However, handsets are likely to continue to dominate the market for mobile internet access compared with laptops, Ovum said.

In China alone, there will be 325 million handset users against 52.5 million laptop users by 2013, it said.

One of the reason of the growth is acceptance: Nielsen Malaysia’s consumer research director Vinod Paul said: “Our latest Mobile Insights Report shows that generally it is men who tend to score higher on wanting emerging technology features in their handsets, but when it comes to mobile Internet, both genders are equal. This shows that this emerging technology is fast gaining mainstream acceptance.”

Although the global economic downturn has affected both traditional and online retailers, analysts say the gloomy economic outlook is actually encouraging consumers to hunt for much cheaper goods on second-hand goods online like Amazon.com or make greater use of auction and rental Web sites.

“I like to shop for clothes online because no sales girls will pester me,” said Cecelia Wang, a 23-year-old university student in Taipei who said she spent about 1,500 Taiwan dollars, about $43, each month on Internet purchases. “For online shopping, all I need to do is sit in my room and shop, which is great.”

Internet retailing is increasingly making its presence felt in Asia because telecommunications infrastructure has improved and payment, a major obstacle to online shopping, is increasingly secure, analysts say.

As more people in countries like China and India get hooked up to the Internet, online sales are expected to rise by an average of 20 percent a year. In some markets, including Japan, they are expected to increase by as much as 40 percent annually.

“There is a huge opportunity for retailers in Asia-Pacific to benefit from the cost-savings of operating online,” said Sandra Hanchard, a senior analyst at Hitwise, an “online intelligence service” subsidiary of Experian Group.

“Surfing the Internet is now a mainstream lifestyle activity,” Hanchard said. “More and more traditional retailers are realizing that this is an opportunity to connect directly with consumers.”

Original US eCommerce sites like are among the most popular sites in Asia. Why? If you take a look on then you understand how eBay is integrating their multinational look & fool with special local Indian products, needs and services. Of course this has been done mainly by the more than two million registered users, which top purchases in 2008 included gemstones, mobile handsets, MP3 players, women’s apparel and Indian stamps and coins.

The market research firm Euromonitor forecasts that Internet retail sales in the Asia-Pacific region will have doubled in 2012 from 2007, reaching more than $71 billion by 2012.

Asia still lags behind the United States, where Forrester Research says that online spending in 2008 was $141 billion and could reach $156 billion this year.

In the United States, online sales at retailers like Best Buy and Macy’s continue to grow despite the recession and weaker physical store sales.

Hanchard says that online retailing in the Asia-Pacific region has been slow to develop, compared with its use in Europe and the United States, partly because retailers have not put as much money into their online channels.

What is interesting, say analysts at KPMG, is that the online retail sales market is expanding in more mature markets, including Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. These are countries that possess some of the world’s most effective communication services and high penetration for broadband Internet access.

In Taiwan, online shopping transactions rose 32.3 percent to 243 billion dollars last year, the Institute for Information Industry said, with most online shoppers buying clothes, accessories, beauty and health products. A Visa e-Commerce Tracking survey of 3,000 Internet users in Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong found that the average amount of spending online in a 12-month period ending in April 2008 was $3,000.