Online advertising spending in Britain surged more than 41 percent in 2006 to break the 2 billion pound ($3.9 billion) barrier, taking its market share to 11.4 percent and above national newspapers' share. The results are from a research conducted by The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), Pricewaterhouse Coopers and World Advertising Research Center.

Online advertising's full-year share of the advertising market of 11.4 percent - reaching 12.4 percent in the second half - was nearly double the global average of 5.8 percent and the online market share in the UK for 2005 was 7.8 percent.

The expenses for advertising in national newspapers grew only 0.2 percent last year to 1.9 billion pounds for a market share of 10.9 percent. Spending online was just over half the size of the TV ad market, which experienced a fall of 4.7 percent to 3.9 billion pounds.

Online advertising consists of display ads such as banners, classifieds and paid-for search, and the categories driving the growth were recruitment followed by finance and technology.