B2B Media and Info Industry Revenues Increased 3.3% Y-O-Y in H1

September 17, 2012

Business-to-business (B2B) media and information industry revenues reached $12.5 billion in H1 2012, representing 3.3% growth from $12.1 billion in H1 2011, details the Association of Business Media (ABM) in its latest Business Information Network Report. Despite this solid growth on a year-over-year basis, revenues actually inched down by 0.3% from H2 2011.

ABM previously reported 2011 industry revenues to be $26.5 billion, up 7.2% year-over-year. That total has now been revised down to $24.6 billion, and represents an 8.1% increase over revised figures for 2010 ($22.8 billion).

Digital Ad Revenues Grow Fastest

On a year-over-year basis, digital advertising revenues grew most rapidly among the 4 components of the report, increasing by 14.2% year-over-year in H1. Data and business information revenues also posted solid growth, up 7.4%, although print ad spending dropped 4.2%.

Looking further at the print component, the report notes that 15 of the 22 market segments saw a decline in revenues, including: computing and software (-22.3%); healthcare (-12.2%); movies, radio, and TV (-10.8%); and aviation and military (-10.1%). Agriculture magazine advertising was the only segment to report a double-digit percentage increase in H1, up 11.2%.

Trade Show Revenue Continues Growth

The ABM report notes that trade show revenue increased by 4.4% year-over-year in H1. This growth in revenue comes amid concerns that the economy is tempering the size of B2B exhibition budgets. An August 2012 study from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) found that 47% of exhibitors believe their budgets have decreased over the past 2 years as a result of the Great Recession, compared to just 22% who said that the economic conditions prompted an increase in their budgets.

Despite these harsh economic conditions, though, B2B exhibitors continue to see these activities as valuable: 37% said that they have seen more value from their exhibits in the past 2 years, compared to just 16% who have seen less value from them. 37% of exhibitors also expect to see more value from exhibitions and conferences in the next 2 years.

That may be why trade shows remain the dominant component of B2B media and information revenues, at 45.7% share in H1 2012 ($5.7 billion). Print ads commanded the next-highest share of revenues (30% – $3.7 billion), followed by digital (15.6% – $1.9 billion) and data/business information (8.8% – $1.1 billion).

About the Data: The ABM release includes the following methodological notes:

“ABM compiles the core data for its BIN Report from four sources. Trade show data is contributed by CEIR, the Center for Exhibition Industry Research. The data and business information stream is provided by Outsell, a research and advisory firm focused on the publishing and information industries. Digital advertising data is an ABM estimate based on first quarter 2012 data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau; ABM will revise its estimates after IAB releases its second quarter 2012 data in mid-October. The print advertising data for the first half of 2012 is provided by Inquiry Management Systems (IMS), a technology- and research-based publishing service bureau; the print data for previous periods has not been revised and is an ABM estimate based on the figures released at the time by IMS.

For 2012, the BIN Report revised its estimation of the contribution from digital advertising based on a deep analysis of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Internet Advertising Revenue Report.

The data and business information component of the BIN Report has been revised upward by Outsell to reflect improved revenue information recently made available. “Almost all of the increase in total data revenue is the result of increased visibility into McGraw-Hill Platts revenue and Reed Elsevier reports of RBI data revenue, especially from FlightGlobal following the acquisition of Ascend Aviation and Accuity, acquired from SourceMedia parent InvestCorp,” says Chuck Richard, vp and lead analyst at Outsell.

The data presented for the BIN Report’s four components is not adjusted for inflation.”

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