Online display advertising bucks economic trends, surpassing £1 billion for the first time
Online display advertising bucks economic trends, surpassing £1 billion for the first time
Despite the backdrop of a depressed UK economy, advertising on the internet increased by 14.4% on a like-for-like basis to a new high of £4.9 billion (bn) in 2011, up £687 million year on year.
According to the latest Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK advertising expenditure report published late yesterday and conducted by IT consultancy PwC, online advertising has continued to grow at an exceptional rate, last year experiencing its biggest increase in five years.
The top five categories, by share of display spend, in 2011 were finance and consumer including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), which took equal first place with 15% of spend. Retail and media
The report also said the most popular forms of online advertising were banners and other embedded formats, with a 73% share. Growth of this format it said was fuelled by bigger, richer and more dynamic ads that spiked display spend by 13.4% to a high of £1.1bn (£945 million in 2010) and a 24% share of online ad spend (23% in 2010).
Video and social ads feed growth
Video advertising also continued its growth trend, now accounting for 10% of all online display advertising. Expenditure on online video doubled year on year to £109 million (£54 million in 2010). The format has grown more than eight-fold since 2008, when video spend was £12 million.
And banner ads on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, increased by 75% to £240 million in 2011 – an eight-fold increase since records began in 2008.
Search marketing proved to be a recession-proof staple for direct response advertisers, recording impressive growth of 17.5% to £2,767 million (£2,346 million in 2010), and a 58% share of online advertising spend (57% in 2010).
Meanwhile advertising on mobile devices rose by 157% in 2011, to a new high of £203m, as a result of increased smartphone ownership, the proliferation of touchscreen technology, 3G, and soaring tablet sales, which sparked a surge in interest from brands, especially in the retail and consumer (FMCG) sectors.
Anna Bartz, strategy manager at PwC, said: “This year’s results reflect the continued appeal of digital media – on desktop, mobile or tablet – to advertisers for both brand advertising and direct response. All formats grew, with strongest increases in video and social media, and in search. Internet ad spend's 14.4% growth is exceptional when compared to an estimated advertising growth of less than 2% across all media in 2011.”
