Online advertising expenditures were up 56% in Russia in 2011, overtaking print ads for the first time. The internet presently accounts for 16% of ad spending in Russia, still a far cry from TV ad dominance.

Web ads in the UK overtook print in 2010, and eMarketer projects the same in the U.S. in 2012. eMarketer estimates online advertising spending in the U.S. will grow 23.3% in 2012, to reach $32 billion, while print ads are expected to bring in only $22.8 billion. Still, like in Russia, TV ads are still dominant, and will remain that way for the time being. U.S. TV ads brought in $60.7 billion in 2011, and is expected to grow to $72.0 billion by 2016.

In Russia, the biggest web advertising gain came from contextual ads, which attracted 63% percent more expenditures. Print saw the slowest gains, only seven percent, though the entire Russian ad market was up 21% in 2011. Though, web ads are still being used three times less than TV ads, according to the Russian Association of Communication Agencies. Also, Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine, was up 60% in sales growth in 2011, but is expected to be down 15-20% in 2012. Google retained roughly 25% of the Russian search engine market in 2011.

Broadband adoption has been growing amongst the ad-targeted Russian middle class, and roughly 43% of the country’s population is online. These numbers have been rising steadily, according to Google public data.