UK advertisers will spend 77 percent more on social networks this year at £115 million, and that will hit £285 million, eMarketer says. But that’s just 3.4 percent of the anticipated UK online ad spend overall, so what’s holding ad buyers back? Researcher Debra Williamson says advertising will only keep pace with soc nets’ user growth if they “can develop substantial metrics showing the value and performance of the advertising”.

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Regardless, the UK is taking 68 percent of western Europe’s soc-net ad spend, but it’s still up to two years behind the US, the research aggregator says. eMarketer last month revised down its earlier forecast for global social net ad spend, citing “today’s economy, combined with the fact that social networks are still trying to develop successful ad models”.