Social networking sites accounted for more than 25% of all UK display ad impressions in August, according to research by comScore's Ad Metrix service. Of the 54.2 billion display ad impressions delivered to UK Internet users in August, 25.5% of them, or 13.8 billion, were viewed on social networks:

Key findings:

• Telecommunications companies—including Telefonica O2, Deutsche Telekom, and British Telecommunications—were the heaviest social networking site advertisers, delivering more than 949 million display ad impressions on social networking sites in August, or approximately 7% of all display ads delivered in the site category.
• The retail advertiser category, which includes leading brands such as DFS, Tesco, and John Lewis, ranked second with 753 million display ad views, followed by banking brands (e.g., Barclays and HSBC) with 248 million, travel brands (e.g. Thomas Cook and Travelzoo.com) with 213 million, and entertainment brands (e.g. Sky and Sony) with 181 million display ad views.
• Of the top 10 advertiser categories on social networking sites, teen content advertisers like Habbo and NHS-owned TeenLifeCheck delivered the highest proportion of their ad impressions in the social networking category at 37.3%.
• Online dating advertisers (33.8%) and retail advertisers (30.1%) also delivered an above-average proportion of their ads in the site category.

All Age Groups Reached by Ads on Social Networks