Latin America: Strong Growth in Internet Ads

Online advertising is growing in Latin America, especially Brazil and Argentina.

LARGE MARKET: Brazil's online ad market is now larger than that of The Netherlands and Austria combined. (Photo: City of Rio Branco, Brazil)

While Latin America's ad sector is barely growing, the region's online ad market is showing double-digit growth.

This year, spending on Latin American online advertising will likely reach $651 million, an increase of 13.4 percent from 2008, UK-based ad agency ZenithOptimedia estimates. By comparison, global Internet ad spending is expected to grow by 10.1 percent this year and U.S. online ad spending should increase by 12.6 percent..

Brazil, by far the largest online ad market in Latin America, is expected to boost Internet advertising by 9.9 percent this year to $456 million. That number represents nearly a third of online ad spending in Canada. It also means that Brazil's online ad market is larger than that of The Netherlands and Austria combined.

Argentina is expected to see an even stronger increase - 42 percent to $91 million. However, Colombia's ad spending on the Internet will barely grow this year - by 1.8 percent to $56 million.

ZenithOptimedia does not track Internet ad spending in Mexico.

Next year, Latin American online ad spending should grow another 21.5 percent to $791 million. That's nearly twice the forecasted global growth rate of 11.1 percent.