Google to surpass Channel 4 in UK ad revenue

Channel 4 has issued a warning that Google is set to overtake them in terms of advertising revenue this year.

The search engine is set to earn £900 million in advertising revenues for the UK market, which will top the predicted Channel 4 figure of around £800 million.

The warning came from C4 chief executive Andy Duncan in an interview with FT.com:

“People need to wake up and realise that this is not just a cyclical issue. There is deep structural change taking place.”

“If we want to protect the fantastic legacy of UK broadcasting, we need to wake up to this sooner rather than later.”

Mr Duncan has been lobbying Ofcom and the government for more financial support to help Channel 4 maintain its public broadcasting service through the transition to digital TV.

Channel 4 has also been negotiating with Google with the aim of making its programming content available online. 

The internet is rapidly expanding as a medium for advertising – IAB figures show that online marketing grew by 40% this year, and now accounts for 10.5 of the UK ad market.

In the same period, the television advertising market fell by 1.3%.

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