An expert in online advertising has explained the upturn in advertising spend for small business in IT and others over the last few years at a recent major meeting of industry moguls.

Nicki Lynus, the head of research for the Internet Advertising Bureau - a trade association for digital marketing - made her comments at the Westminster Media Forum Keynote Seminar: The Future of Advertising.

She explained: "94 per cent of internet connections are now broadband. We know for a fact that the upturn in broadband connection means people do a lot more online, including watching lots more online TV and online video content."

Ms Lynus linked this upturn in advertising particularly to the percentage of people using the internet to view said video content, with research confirming that two-thirds of such material is made for the internet, showing the possibilities the environment provides.

In July, ZenithOptimedia stated that internet advertising will grow by ten per cent this year and reach a 15.1 per cent share of global marketing expenditure by 2011.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.