A prodigal friend

If spending remains at current levels, internet advertising costs will soon eclipse radio ad revenue, reports Advertising Age.

The prediction comes from a new report by eMarketer, which says online will get US$ 21.7 billion, just barely sneaking past radio's US$ 20.4 billion this year. By 2011, that gap is expected to be US$ 44 billion compared to just US$ 22.6 billion for radio.

Despite the surge of online spending, the eMarketer report says it doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. The two media can complement one another, with studies showing the combination of radio and online can lead to higher ad recall.

A recent study also points out that offline advertising efforts lead to the majority of online searches.