Web-based advertising in the UK appears set to overtake its television equivalent, new figures show.

Figures released by the internet search engine Google show that it generated a total of around £1.3 billion worth of revenue through online ads in 2007.

According to Seamus McCauley, data analyst for Associated Northcliffe Digital, it is unlikely that any TV channel would have topped this figure last year.

Mr McCauley said that although ITV 1 is yet to release data for the full-year he doubts the firm had managed to match the total after posting six month figures totalling around £600 in 2007.

If the statistics are confirmed, Google will have become the largest advertising outlet in the UK with ITV 1 in second place and Channel 4 in third.

Google, which was founded in 1998, grew out of the BackRub search engine developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent).