Online advertising spend grew by more than 41% in the first 6 months of 2007 compared to the same period last year.

The figures produced by the Internet Advertising Bureau confirmed online expenditure is still growing at an “astonishing” rate, reaching more than £1.3 billion in the first half of this year.

Guy Phillipson, Chief executive of the IAB, said that the increase in UK expenditure was due to wider availability of broadband and wireless services together with higher internet usage amongst women and the over 50’s,.

Additionally the introduction of highly sophisticated monitoring tools meant that the internet has become a very attractive medium for advertisers.