Market research firm eMarketer has predicted that online ad spending will reach a staggering $20 billion in 2007 (here).This figure represents an increase of 19 per cent compared to 2006 figures and is one of ten key predictions for the coming year made by eMarketer.

Massive online sales at Christmas exceeded analysts’ expectations and so the sharp rise predicted by the firm is certainly on the cards.

In fact, a rise of 19 per cent is down from the 30 per cent or more seen in the past few years but is still far greater than the 1.4 per cent growth predicted for the US advertising sector as a whole.

Other trends identified by eMarketer for 2007 include the increased prominence of online video ads, which consumers tend to actively seek out, growing social networks and more video game downloads.

User-generated content is also expected to make its way on to mobile TV, which will become more prominent over the course of the year.

Other predictions include an increase in Hispanic and African-American internet users, more b2c e-commerce, more user interactivity, the increase of voice over internet protocol services and broadband, and changes to TV viewing and its associated advertising.

Separate research from eMarketer found that gay, lesbian and bisexual internet users are more likely to use social networking sites than heterosexuals.