The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have teamed up to release their latest US internet advertising revenue report [pdf], with this latest edition covering activity in the first half of the year. The study details the continued growth of mobile ad spending, which comprised almost one-quarter (23%) of total online ad spend.
That figure represents steady growth from years past: in H1 2013, mobile comprised 15% of online ad spend; a year earlier, mobile was just 7% of spend.
In fact, mobile is now the second-largest online advertising format in the US, having overtaken desktop banner ads (17% share) during H1 en route to roughly $3 billion in revenues. Search remains the top format, but its influence appears to be waning: its 39% share of revenues in H1 is down from 43% last year and 48% the year before. However, those figures only represent desktop search. Indeed, search accounts for 51% share of mobile ad revenues. In other words, combining desktop and mobile search means that, overall, search comprised roughly 51% of online ad revenues.
Meanwhile, social ads emerge as another area of rapidly-growing spend, with revenues having increased by 53% year-over-year to $2.9 billion in H1 2014.
In other results from the report:
- Online ad revenues grew by 15.1% year-over-year to $23.1 billion in H1, setting yet another new peak;
- Online ad revenues remain highly concentrated: the top 10 ad-selling companies accounted for 71% of total revenues in Q2 2014, while those ranked 11-25 comprised another 11% of revenues;
- Retail (21% share), financial services (13%) and auto (12%) continued to be the three largest online advertising verticals by share of revenues, with each unchanged in share from H1 2013;
- Almost two-thirds (65%) of H1 revenues were priced on a performance basis, compared to 34% on a CPM basis and 1% on a hybrid basis.
