For the first time, online advertising spend has overtaken that of television in the UK according to a report by The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

According to the study over £1.75bn was spent in the UK in the first six months of this year, the first time this has happened within a major economy.

The growth in spend by the end of June was 4.6% year-on-year according to the report.

Technology companies were the largest spenders online, taking up around 19% of the market.

Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau, said: “Internet advertising has beaten all expectations to achieve growth in the most challenging market conditions. Online display has performed notably well against its peers in TV, print and radio despite more than £1.5 billion being wiped off the advertising industry. We have a rollercoaster of a year ahead but even in tough economic conditions marketers still recognise the value, accountability and measurability of online advertising.”

According to Martin McNulty, director for online marketing agency, Trafficbroker the overtake was inevitable.

"For so long the protagonist on the global advertising stage, TV is rapidly becoming the bit part,” said McNulty.

"Its fate has been accelerated by the recession, which has radically altered what businesses need, and expect, from their ad spend, namely measurable results. Advertising is no longer about pay and pray, it's about performance. Search marketing, which is fully transparent, fully measurable and fully accountable, is swallowing up advertising budgets and becoming the battleground for brands that need direct response media, not a fanciful piece of brand positioning."

Television advertising spend has been dipping for several years, badly affecting production budgets and driving UK TV companies to look online to build ratings.