New report shows Aussie online ads booming

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 30 May 2007 20:18

IT Industry - Market

Online advertising in Australia is booming, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted on behalf of major online publishers' group, the  Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Online ads in the first quarter for 2007 brought in $294 million, a 50.8% growth on Q1 2006 and the largest first-quarter ever recorded. General Display advertising and Classifieds advertising accounted for 26% and 27% of the total advertising expenditure for the first-quarter 2007, respectively, while Search and Directories advertising comprised the remaining 47%. The figures were included in the Online Advertising Expenditure Report released today by PwC for IAB Australia.

Search and directories continued to surge ahead in market growth, recording $139.5 million during Q1 2007 and an 84.8% growth on the comparable quarter in 2006. General Display and Classifieds recorded 30.4% and 28.2% growth rates over the same period, though they both recorded decreases of 18% and 11% respectively for Q1 compared to the reported Q4 2006 results.

IAB Australia General Manager, Patty Keegan, said: “Q1 data showed the seasonal trend of a slight softening in the growth of online advertising, but the market is undoubtedly continuing to climb. This Q1 result provides a strong foundation for significant continued growth of the online advertising industry which experienced approximate 60% growth in the 2006 calendar year.”

In General Display advertising finance topped the industry categories with 23.6% market share in Q1, Computers and Communications following with 14.3% and Motor Vehicles at 13.7%.  Recruitment, Real Estate and Automotive continue to be the leading categories for Classified Advertising expenditure.

The Q1 2007 Online Advertising Expenditure Report is the first to be prepared by PwC following its appointment in late 2006.  PwC has assumed responsibility for collecting the financial data from all participating companies.

IAB Australia is actively encouraging as many industry participants as possible to be a part of the report and dgm Australia has contributed data for the first time to this report.