According to TNS Media Intelligence, P&G spent $672 million (£420m) on advertising in Q1, an 18 per cent cut on last year, but its spending on digital increased.
Despite its online display spend doubling, digital only accounted for 4 per cent of P&G's total ad budget while TV spend was slashed 44 per cent, TNS said.
Rival company Johnson & Johnson also increased its online display spend, almost doubling it to $15.5m (£9.7m), or 4 per cent of its $397m (£248.5m) ad spend.
CoverGirl was P&G's biggest spender on online display, allocating 10 per cent of its $50m (£51m) budget to the medium.
Vicks allocated 45 per cent of its $8.7m (£5.4m) spend, while Head & Shoulders spent 18 per cent of its $19.7m (£12.3m) on internet display.
TNS said it added 600 extra websites to the pool of 3000 it monitors, which may account for some of the increase.
However, in the UK, figures from the IAB show that the consumer goods sector accounted for just 3.8 per cent of total online ad spend during the second half of 2008, down from 5.3 per cent in the same period the previous year.
Media agency sources claim FMCG brands are diverting spend away from online advertising to take advantage of cheap TV spots on niche cable, digital terrestrial and satellite channels.
One of the UK's biggest advertisers, P&G currently spends just 1.1 per cent of its £181m media budget online.
Last week P&G announced it is integrating all brand-building departments at corporate level, under the leadership of global marketing officer Marc Pritchard.
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