That was the analysis of Justin Cullen, the managing director of online media company, Netbehaviour. He was responding to British-based industry research which showed that almost half of all marketers (48%) planned to use social networking websites in 2007, an increase of 10% on 2006. "You have to remember it's starting from a very-low base. This time last year the market was probably worth less than 300,000, " he told the Sunday Tribune.

"I'd say that every two-three months the overall value of the market has doubled. The Bebo craze only really took off in an advertising sense last summer.

I'd say it's now worth between 1.2m and 1.5m a year.

The two most-used social networking websites in Ireland are Bebo, with over 900,000 registered Irish users and Microsoft's msn. ie which in February had 126,744 members, according to internet information provider Comscore. Hibernian car insurance last week joined Disney, Coke and McDonald's in advertising through the Bebo website.

Generator is the Irish company that sells advertising for Bebo. Its managing director, Mark Garbatt, says that social networking websites offer one of the most efficient options for marketers and benefits from a lack of "advertising clutter".

"The bottom line is that the age and gender targeting on the mass Bebo audience is a very efficient option with regard to other media choices and this fact is not lost on agencies and marketers. There is a lot of advertising revenue going into this now."

"It is simply a case of advertisers chasing their audience, " according to Cullen. "There is an element of engagement and interaction with brands that goes on in social networking websites, but that's not really driving it, it's the teenagers that are driving it. They are coming home after school and not turning on the television but going on Bebo. Every minute they spend on Bebo is time away from other media. That is what's behind this."