Mobile continues to dominate online advertising growth


Total online advertising market grows 15% year on year

Online advertising expenditure has continued to grow, reaching $ 910.8m for the March 2013 quarter,  representing 15 percent year on year growth according to IAB Australia’s Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER) which was released today. 

The Report, which is compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), noted that online advertising on smart phones and tablets has continued its inexorable climb, recording 182 percent year on year growth in the March quarter 2013 which almost tripled the total mobile market from $13.0 million in March quarter 2012 to $36.6 million this quarter.

Within mobile advertising, tablet based advertising has exceeded smart phone advertising share for the first time since the collection of mobile data, increasing to 58 percent of all mobile advertising – up from 41 percent in the previous quarter.

Video advertising also recorded strong and sustained growth to reach $27.6m for the March 2013 quarter, an increase of $8.8m (or 46.8 percent) year on year.

The retail sector again reported strong year on year growth of 42.7 percent making it one of the biggest and fastest growing Advertiser Industry Categories this year within display advertising.  The traditionally dominant sectors in display advertising, Motor Vehicles and Real Estate, also gained share this quarter reflecting greater consumer activity in these industries during the start of the year

All three sectors grew year on year with General Display and Search and Directories both up 17 percent, and Classifieds advertising up by eight percent.  On a quarterly basis, Classifieds and Search and Directories achieved growth while General Display advertising declined slightly, reflecting a seasonal trend which occurs in all March quarters. 

Gai Le Roy, Director of Research for IAB Australia commented: "It is pleasing to see a strong March quarter with year on year growth for all major sectors. The dual factors continued growth in consumer devices and expansion of creative opportunities for marketers has underpinned significant growth in both mobile and video advertising. We expect to see this growth continue with publishers, agencies & advertisers currently investing heavily in resources to manage these growing sections.”

General display advertising accounted for 26 percent of all online advertising, classifieds advertising accounted for 19 percent and search and directories advertising accounted for 55 percent based on expenditure for the March quarter.  This equates to a total expenditure for each category during the March quarter of $497.15m for search and directories; $177.20m for classifieds; and $236.40m for display advertising.

The report is the fourth to be prepared under the ‘new approach’ introduced in the June 2012 report.  This approach means data collected from industry participants has been supplemented by estimates for Google display, video and mobile advertising as well as Facebook display and mobile advertising; while the prior methodology for estimating Google search has been refined. 

/Ends

About the Interactive Advertising Bureau

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Limited is the peak trade association for online advertising in Australia and was incorporated in July 2010. As one of over 40 IAB offices globally, and with a rapidly growing membership, IAB Australia’s principal objective is to increase the share of advertising and marketing dollars that interactive media captures in the marketplace.

IAB Australia’s board includes representatives of AIMIA, Carsales.com, Fairfax Media, Google, Mi9, Network Ten, News Australia, REA Group, SBS, Telstra Advertising Network, TressCox Lawyers and Yahoo!7. It has four objectives:

  • To develop, coordinate and promote industry standards and guidelines that make interactive advertising a simpler and more attractive medium for agencies, advertisers and marketers
  • To prove and promote the effectiveness of interactive advertising to advertisers, agencies, marketers, and the press
  • To be the primary advocate for the interactive marketing and advertising industry
  • To expand the breadth and depth of IAB membership while increasing direct value to members

For further information about IAB Australia please visit: www.iabaustralia.com.au

For more editorial information please contact:

Pru Quinlan

Einsteinz Communications

T: (02) 8905 0995

E: pru@einsteinz.com.au