Online Ad Revenues Hit $8.4 Billion

Sites include iab.net . Published on July 3rd, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

Online advertising seems to have hit a new gear with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reporting massive revenues and growth over the initial reporting quarter of 2012.

According to the IAB online advertising saw its highest revenue-quarter ever with an overall ad spend of $8.4 billion. The corresponding quarter in 2011 tipped in at $7.3 billion and so the $1.1 billion growth in 2012 marked a 15% increase in ad revenues.

Of course the massive growth in mobile browsing and online shopping has played a significant role in the growth of online advertising—a fact which isn’t lost IAB chief Randall Rothenberg. According to Mr Rothenberg, “More online consumers than ever are taking to the Internet to inform and navigate their daily lives – by desktop, tablet or smartphone. Marketers and agencies are clearly – and wisely – investing dollars to reach digitally connected consumers.”

The IABs data is good news all round, even for online platforms that are struggling to match their audience with advertisers. At the very least it shows that online advertising has buoyancy and all platforms need to do is tweak until they hit the sweet spot. Platforms like Facebook will no doubt see the new data as an opportunity to further develop its own advertiser-friendliness.

The growth in the context of the wider economy is also very encouraging and shows that consumers are still keen on spending money, even if not very much is left on the card.