Online Ad Revenues Up 18% Y-O-Y in H1; Mobile’s Share Doubles to 15%

October 10, 2013

IAB-H1-Online-Ad-Revenues-2000-2013-Oct2013Online ad revenues increased by 18% year-over-year to reach $20.1 billion in the first half (H1) of this year, according to the latest revenue report [pdf] from the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Needless to say, that sets yet another peak for online ad revenues, which totaled $10.3 billion in Q2, in itself an 18% increase over the year-earlier period and a 5% quarter-over-quarter rise. Revenues have now grown by double-digits on a year-over-year basis for 13 consecutive quarters. Search retained the largest share of revenues, while mobile continues to be the fastest-growing format.

Mobile revenues were up 145% year-over-year during H1, reaching $3 billion. That rapid growth propelled mobile’s share of revenues to 15%, up from 7% during H1 2012 and just 4% a year earlier.

IAB-US-Online-Ad-Revenue-Share-by-Format-Oct2013While search remained the dominant revenue format, its 43% share was down significantly from 48% in the year-earlier period, as search revenues migrated from desktop to mobile devices, and are now counted in the mobile category. (A detailed analysis of the rise and fall of select online advertising formats can be found here.)

Display-related advertising continue to be the second-largest format, accounting for 30% of revenues in H1, down from 33% a year earlier as display’s 9% year-over-year rise trailed the overall average. Display/banner ads comprised 19% of total revenues ($3.8 billion), while digital video inched up a point to 7% ($1.3 billion), followed in the display category by rich media (3%; $640 million) and sponsorships (2%; $351 million).

Classifieds (6%; $1.3 billion), lead generation (4%; $853 million), and email (0.4%; $78 million) continue see their share of the pie shrink.

Other Findings:

  • The top 10 ad-selling companies accounted for 70% of total revenues during Q2, down from 73% a year earlier.
  • Retail remains the largest industry by online ad spend, comprising 20% of revenues during the first half of the year, steady from last year. Financial services (13%), Auto (12%) and telecom (9%) were the next-largest, with telecom dropping from 12% share this time last year. CPG and media advertisers each increased their share of the total by 2% points, to 7% and 6%, respectively.
  • 65% of revenues were priced on a performance basis in H1, surprisingly down from 67% a year earlier. That was the first time in several years that performance-based pricing had not increased in share.
Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This