Internet adspend was up by 17.3% in 2008, however, this growth rate has dramatically slowed since 2006/07 when online adspend increased by 39.5%.
Every medium, except for digital, suffered a decline in ad expenditure from 2007 to 2008, according research compiled by the World Advertising Research Centre on behalf of the Advertising Association.
While the overall fall for 2008 was 3.9%, that decline accelerated in the fourth quarter when total adspend was down 9.6% year on year.
Newspaper advertising was down 12% in 2007, magazine ads fell 9.9%, television ads were down by 4.9%, while radio ads fell by 8.5% year on year.
Outdoor ads fell by 3.8%, cinema ads were down by 0.9% and direct mail dropped by 6% year on year.
These findings are published today in the AA's Quarterly Survey of Advertising Expenditure.