EMarketer logo. Growth in online advertising spending is slowing amid a weak economy and will fall into single digits next year for the first time, research firm eMarketer reported on Tuesday.

Growth in online advertising spending is slowing amid a weak economy and will fall into single digits next year for the first time, research firm eMarketer reported on Tuesday.

EMarketer forecast online ad spending of 25.7 billion dollars in 2009, just 8.9 percent more than the 23.6 billion dollars that will be spent in 2008.

In August, before the full impact of the economic slowdown and its impact on the technology sector was apparent, eMarketer had predicted online ad spending would grow by 14.5 percent in 2009.

EMarketer said online ad spending was expected to grow by 10.9 percent in 2010 and reach 13.5 percent in 2013.

It said paid search advertising, a market dominated by Google, was expected to grow by 14.9 percent in 2009 to 12.28 billion dollars.

"Especially in economic turmoil, search is more trackable than any other ad format," eMarketer senior analyst David Hallerman said. "At this stage, it is a tried-and-true format that is supporting online growth."

Display advertising, in which Yahoo is a market leader, was expected to grow by only 6.6 percent next year to 4.93 billion dollars, eMarketer said.

Online spending on video advertising, expected to grow by 81 percent this year, is expected to remain strong but its growth is expected to be cut nearly in half next year, eMarketer said, to 44.9 percent.

© 2008 AFP