PROFILE - GUY PHILLIPSON: Master planner.

Guy Phillipson of the IAB talks to Susie Harwood about his first four months as chief executive and his plans for educating advertisers on the opportunities of online

Spend on online advertising is soaring, so you could be forgiven for thinking that anyone who aims to grow online's share of advertising has an easy job. UK online ad spend grew 80% in 2003 and a further 60% last year to #653.3m, overtaking spend on radio for the first time, according to the latest set of Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) figures.

While the IAB has been instrumental in developing standards for online advertising, it's difficult to say how much influence it's had on growing the medium. As consumers continue to flock online - there are currently about 28m people online in the UK and 50,000 new subscribers to broadband every week - they spend less time with traditional media like TV and press. Isn't it inevitable, then, that advertisers will eventually follow? If so, what role is there for the IAB?

The trade …