MUMBAI: The chairman and Global CEO of Havas Digital, Don Epperson, has said that online advertising was one of the fastest growing mediums in India.

According to him, the online advertising industry was estimated to touch $50 billion by the end of this year in the US alone while other markets too were poised for a similar growth.

Epperson was in Hyderabad recently for the launch of Centre of Excellence (CoE) that would provide marketing and digital services for clients worldwide by his company that is a diversified advertising and online marketing solutions provider. The Centre, headed by Ravi Kabra, would employ about 20 people for now.

The CEO was of the view that India has emerged as an important business destination for multinational corporations and many Indian companies are going global, requiring expertise to address this space.

Referring to the growth of online advertising, Epperson said that the largest categories of advertisers were Internet players, real-estate firms and financial services companies. Online gaming and sports are two other major categories.

Among the top six global advertising and marketing solutions provider, Havas Digital has clients such as Air France, Vodafone, Emirates, Peugeot, Cap Gemini and works with Google, Yahoo and MSN for online advertising-related business.

The company plans to launch a mobile-based services arm in India soon.