Fuelled by strong growth in both video and native/in-feed, digital advertising revenue hit $2.2 billion for the September quarter 2018, representing a 13.2% increase year-on-year.
The data, which was drawn from the Online Advertising Expenditure Report released today by IAB/PwC, also confirmed the industry maintained quarter-on-quarter growth of 1.6% from the preceding June 2018 quarter.
The latest report shows Search and Directories continues to represent the largest proportion of the online advertising market in Australia at 44% ($983.2m) for the September quarter, with General Display at 37% ($822.8m) and Classifieds at 19% ($429.7m).
Distribution of revenue across General Display advertising remained steady through the quarter, with video inventory now representing 40% of display advertising at $329m – an increase of 18% year on year. Native/content/in-feed advertising increased from the last quarter and now represents 37% share of the total display advertising, while banner and standard display formats represent 21% share.
According to Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, the continued increase in video advertising reflects the rapid increase in video consumption on digital devices, with adult Australians now consuming nearly 31 hours per month on digital devices – an increase of 23% year on year.
“Marketers are continuing to reinvest in digital advertising targeting people where they are spending record levels of time-consuming media. Adult Australians are now spending over 90 hours per month on their devices and this is creating new advertising opportunities that can help businesses grow,” said Le Roy.
Mobile advertising made up 62% of total general display expenditure in the September 2018 quarter, an increase from 56% in the June 2018 quarter, to reach $1,078.3m.
Although the top five advertiser industry category ranking list for General Display advertising expenditure did not change, there was an increase in the finance industry’s share of general display as well as FMCG, a category that continues to invest heavily in video inventory. Despite softening on the prior quarter, automotive advertising continued to lead expenditure in the General Display market for the September quarter 2018, making it the leading category for over five consecutive years.