According to eMarketer data from April, overall ad spending levels in India, Russia and Brazil are still low, but the Chinese market will see nearly half a billion—$448.7 million—in mobile ad spending this year. Next year, eMarketer predicts, advertisers in China will spend $717.8 million on mobile.

To learn more about mobile ad spending in BRIC countries, click here.

Overall ad spending levels in India, Russia and Brazil are still low, but the Chinese market will see nearly half a billion—$448.7 million—in mobile ad spending this year. Next year, eMarketer predicts, advertisers in China will spend $717.8 million on mobile.

To learn more about mobile ad spending in BRIC countries, click here.

Recent weeks have brought a raft of estimates and forecasts for UK advertising spending in 2010 and 2011. For digital media, the news is excellent; for traditional channels, more sobering.

Spending on internet ads grew 10% in the first half of 2010, the UK’s Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) declared in October. As reported by MediaTel, online spending came to almost £1.97 billion ($3.09 billion), or 24.3% of all UK advertising during the period.

According to the IAB, online display returned to healthy growth in H1 2010, with spending of £381 million ($598 million)—a rise of 6.4% compared to the first half of 2009. Banner ads accounted for 72% of the display market, or £272 million ($427 million), while pre- and post-roll video ads shot up to £20.7 million ($32.5 million), and display placements on social media sites contributed around £41 million ($64 million).

Display ad impressions (excluding video) rose even more steeply than spending between Q3 2009 and one year later, to judge by figures from comScore Ad Metrix. This suggests that advertisers were getting much better value for their display budgets in 2010, which doubtless encouraged more committed spending.

Classified ads also staged a comeback in 2010, the IAB reported, climbing 11.4% to £379 million ($595 million) during the first half of the year. Paid search marketing rose by 8.9%, to claim 59.9% of all online ad spending, or just over £1,180 million ($1,853 million).

The IAB saw the double-digit rise in online ad spending as part of a more general recovery; by its calculations, total UK ad spending reached £8.1 million ($12.7 million) in H1 2010, 6.3% higher than spending in the first half of 2009.

The Bellwether report, issued by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and accountancy firm BDO LLP, was less upbeat, noting that the ad budgets of UK marketers rose by an average 0.5% in Q3 2010—a marginal gain, though a welcome contrast to the 4.6% fall registered in Q2.

Like the IAB, the IPA found that the internet delivered the outstanding success stories, with spending on search up 9.9% in Q3 2010, and display spending up 13.3% compared with the previous quarter.

The IPA did point out that most of the 300 or so firms polled for the report were less optimistic about the financial prospects for their industries than in Q2. Moreover, the report’s author ventured that the strong economic performance in Q2 “likely marked the peak of the recovery cycle.”

Looking ahead to 2011, the latest Consensus Forecast from the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC) projected that worldwide ad spending will rise by 4.5%, following a gain of 4.4% in 2010.

Most of that growth will be driven by emerging markets, such as Brazil (where ad spending is predicted to leap 11.4% in 2011), China (13%), India (14%) and Russia (16.3%)

The UK and most other major European countries can expect minor gains by comparison. UK ad spending will rise 2.7% in 2011, said WARC, or just over half the 5% growth anticipated for 2010.

France and Germany will see 2% growth in total ad spending, while Spain will register a gain of 2.2%, after a decline of roughly 1% in 2010.

Globally, WARC foresaw average 2011 increases in Internet ad revenues (13%) far outpacing growth rates in traditional media (5.2% in TV, for example).

The UK, long a leader in internet advertising, will show the lowest growth rates, according to WARC. But even then, online ad spending will be an estimated 6.2% higher in 2011 than in 2010.

Most recently, key companies in the WPP Group, including agencies Ogilvy & Mather and Mindshare, raised their overall forecasts for revenue growth in 2011. According to CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, the revisions were based in part on WPP’s own 4.5% growth between January and October 2010. Group companies had earlier suggested that they anticipated expansion of between 3% and 4% in 2011.

Where does this leave UK ad spending, and online ad spending in particular? Some key aspects to keep in mind:

1. The economic situation remains volatile. In the past week alone, the UK has been buffeted first by news of another national financial bail-out in Ireland (the UK’s number one trading partner) and then by claims that the economy grew by 0.8% in the third quarter, and that spending cuts by the Conservative/ Liberal Democrat coalition government will not have as drastic an effect on public sector jobs as previously feared. The arrival of good and bad economic news in quick succession has been a hallmark of 2010, and looks set to continue as 2011 approaches. This uncertainty will weigh on advertisers, but most have little choice but to maintain spending at or above current levels. After the declines of 2009, further trimming might affect their market shares.

2. For the moment, the consumer mood is largely positive, buoyed by the prospect of Christmas. Many high street retailers—and several online players, including Amazon—are already offering mark-downs, and sales are healthy in many sectors. In the week ending November 13, the John Lewis group recorded sales of £76.93 million ($120.78 million), up 11.5% on the previous week, and 6.8% higher than the corresponding week of 2009. January may bring a less happy mood, however, as the holiday spirit recedes, some jobs are in jeopardy and value-added tax on most purchases goes up to 20%.

3. While growth in total ad spending may languish in the low single digits, there is little doubt that digital will again outpace traditional media, as in 2009 and 2010. Industry observers are unanimous in predicting that display (driven by sharply higher spending on video ads and social media placements) will gain further momentum, while paid search also thrives and mobile marketing moves up a gear.

The day is coming when Asia-Pacific will surpass North America as the world’s biggest advertising market. According to data published in eMarketer’s new “Global Media Intelligence Report,” which was released in collaboration with Starcom MediaVest Group, the question is not whether Asia will overtake North America in advertising spending; the question is when.

Currently, Asia-Pacific is in second place behind North America in total media ad spending worldwide. Advertisers are expected to spend $135.1 billion in the region in 2010, compared to an estimated $176.6 billion in the North American market.

But growth rates are a different story. The overall advertising market in North America is expected to grow about 2% each year through 2014, when it will reach $190.6 billion overall. Asia-Pacific, on the other hand, will see growth rates between 4% to 8% each year until 2014, when the total media ad market reaches $173 billion in the region.

Currently, North America controls 36.6% of the worldwide advertising market, compared to Asia-Pacific’s 28% share. But North America’s share will decline to an estimated 33.8% of the market by 2014, while Asia-Pacific’s slice will increase to 30.7%. Based on current growth rates, it’s likely that as the Asia-Pacific ad market continues to mature, it will eventually outshine that of North America sometime beyond 2014—most likely, in 2016 or 2017.

At the simplest level, the reasons behind the shift come down to sheer numbers. We’ve written before about the staggering number of mobile phone users in China (850 million in 2010, at last estimate), along with the fact that there will be more mobile internet users in China this year than the entire population of the US.

In addition to mobile users, massive “untapped” populations of internet users in China and India are another reason. China currently has an estimated 518 million active internet users, according to eMarketer estimates, compared to just 63.6 million in India. Combined, these two populations make up the fastest-growing demographic of internet users in the world, pegged by eMarketer to increase to over 1 billion by 2014. Knowing that, it’s no wonder marketers are spending more in Asia-Pacific, though I’m not sure whether we should be heartened or disheartened that, in a few years, we won’t be No. 1 anymore.

The “Global Media Intelligence” report covers six major regions worldwide — including countries in Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, North America, and Latin America — and focuses on digital and traditional media advertising spending trends, demographics, broadband and mobile penetration, media usage, and consumer behavior in each region. It is available exclusively for eMarketer Total Access clients.

The China Daily recently reported that China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless operator, announced a competition for video submissions for potential inclusion on a new mobile video channel. The carrier, which has more subscribers than the US has residents, will share video ad revenues—which could prove substantial in the near future—with the contest’s winners. In his latest eMarketer report, my colleague Noah Elkin estimates that mobile content revenues will soar in the US, driven partially by ad-supported video and music. Several factors suggest that the mobile content market in China—especially revenues from mobile TV and video—is headed down the same path.

ResearchInChina found that as of December 2009, mobile TV and online video adoption rates were relatively low, at 16.5% of mobile internet users in China. However, the popularity of other forms of online communication and entertainment suggest a highly receptive mobile audience.

eMarketer estimated in February 2010 that China will have over 850 million mobile phone subscribers by the end of 2010, for a penetration rate of 64.3%. We also projected that mobile internet users would increase 62.5% in 2010 to 372.8 million, with prospective growth rates remaining high through 2014.

What do these bits of information add up to? As more users buy smartphones and other entertainment-enabled phones, China Mobile is looking to maneuver itself to tap the potential of mobile video and TV revenues. According to Netsize and Informa Telecoms & Media, mobile video and TV account for only €127.27 million ($176.2 million) and €34.38 million ($47.8 million), respectively—less than 1% of all mobile content revenues in 2010.

China Mobile continues to expand current 3G coverage and is heavily investing in 4G, as InformationWeek reported, partnering with mobile hardware developers Nokia Siemens, Huawei and Samsung, among others, on their new proprietary 4G network standard. They are upgrading their network to broaden revenue generating services beyond messaging, voice and basic mobile internet.

All of this makes China even more attractive for multinational marketers and content providers.

With the clout of the largest wireless carrier in the world behind it, the push for mobile video and TV seems like a sure bet to expand subscriber usage far beyond current levels in China. And as smaller carriers such as China Unicom and China Telecom follow suit, marketers will literally be in position to easily place mobile video content — including ads, apps and entertainment — directly into the hands of the Chinese consumer.