Canadian online advertising revenues rose 16% to $2.6 billion last year, according to a survey released today by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) of Canada.
Based on data in IAB Canada’s 2011 Ad Revenue Survey, the association also predicted online ad revenues will increase to $2.8 billion by the end of the year. According to the survey, search advertising represented the largest gain in revenue, increasing 19% to almost $1.1 billion. Display advertising also showed huge growth, jumping 22% to $840 million, while classified revenues dropped 2%.
The survey also showed that video is the fastest growing area of online advertising. Video advertising revenues grew a whopping 96% to $73 million in 2011. While it still represents a small portion of overall online ad revenue, IAB Canada president Chris Williams identified video as one of several shifts in online advertising that marketers should pay attention to.
“Online video spend has nearly doubled yet remains modest when compared to television ad spend,” Williams said. “Increasing sophistication in the use of data for programmatic audience buying is changing the dynamics of how inventory is priced and sold. Just combining those two trends indicates how potentially broad the impact of the changing online media landscape could be in 2012 and beyond.”
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By comparison, television ad revenue grew 5% last year, while radio grew 4%. Newspaper ad revenue, meanwhile, declined 6%. According the IAB, online ad revenues continue to close in on television’s lead. In 2011 online revenues accounted for 21.7% of all revenue, an increase from 19.4% in 2011.
Internet advertising accounts for 19.4% of all ad revenues, making it the second largest sector. TV revenues still account for almost a third of all ad revenue, though web revenues are growing much more quickly. Newspaper revenues account for slightly less than online ads, at 18.3%.
IAB compiles the Ad Revenue Survey using information from online publishers who sell ads on Canadian websites and North American ad networks.
