Online advertising hits $4 billion expenditure in 2013 – surpasses Free to Air TV for the first time

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Capture.JPGData released today by PwC has confirmed online as the industry darling, with online advertising expenditure surpassing Free to Air TV advertising revenue for the calendar year for the first time since the start of data collection in 2002. Online advertising expenditure grew 19.3 percent year on year to reach a total of $3,986m. By comparison FTA TV reached $3,877m in the same period.

The data comes from IAB Australia’s Online Advertising Expenditure Report which is prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The full report is available to IAB members on www.iabaustralia.com.au.

While all online advertising segments experienced double digital growth in the 12 months ended 31st December 2013, the general display advertising sector had the strongest growth at 28.4 percent year on year to break the $1bn barrier for the first time.  By comparison, search and directories grew 18.1 percent and classifieds grew 10.5 percent year on year.

General display advertising expenditure for 2013 was $1.125m, while classifieds advertising was $743m and search and directories reached $2.118m.

Total_online_advert.JPGTotal online advertising expenditure growth

 

Mobile advertising quadrupled in 2013, increasing 305 percent year on year to reach $349.2m in the twelve months ending 31st December 2013.  In the December quarter it represented 14.3 percent of total online expenditure, up from 11 percent in the previous quarter.  Video advertising reached 15 percent of display revenues in the December quarter, a 72 percent growth on 2012.  Display advertising also experienced particularly strong growth in the December quarter, reaching 35 percent year on year growth.

Says Gai Le Roy, IAB Australia’s director of research: “The industry should be very proud of these strong results, particularly given the 19.3 per cent growth rate is actually an increase on last year’s.  Digital advertising continues to evolve in terms of offerings and its ability to demonstrate strong ROI for marketers so we expect to see the growth rates sustained for some time to come.”

 

Motor vehicles, finance, and retail were the top three dominant general display industry categories in the December Quarter, representing 41.3 percent of the reported general display advertising market. This was up from 40.2 percent in the December Quarter 2012.

Retail was a big mover this quarter, increasing its category share from 8.8 percent in the December Quarter 2012 to 10.5 percent in the December Quarter 2013. This has been the strongest quarter for retail category share since the commencement of industry category data collection in 2008. The strength of the retail industry category for General Display advertising this quarter was also reflected in the greater retail movements in the market. Shoppers spent a record $22.6 billion in December 2013, following strong sales in October and November.[1]

Says Megan Brownlow, executive director at PwC Australia: “As a committed shopper – online and offline – I’m thrilled to see Australian retailers more actively marketing through digital channels, as the growth in their share of online advertising shows. The bar has been raised perhaps by the big international brand retailers that are seeing Australian consumers as attractive targets.”

[1] Retail sales, China turn Treasury fears on head’, The Australian, 7 February 2014, available online here.