Home Ad Exchange News Digital Ad Revenue Passes Broadcast TV Ad Revenue Amid Mobile Surge

Digital Ad Revenue Passes Broadcast TV Ad Revenue Amid Mobile Surge

SHARE:

IABInternet ad revenue exceeded ad revenue from broadcast TV for the first time, according to the IAB’s annual Internet Ad Revenue Report. Online ad spend rose to $42.8 billion in 2013, up 17% from 2012. Broadcast revenue was a close second, at $40.1 billion.

Mobile advertising, which for a third year in a row grew three-fold (2013 mobile ad revenue increased to $7.1 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 2012), accounted for much of this growth.

“In the US over the last five years, mobile is the only media sector that’s growing and it’s growing wildly fast,” said Chris Fralic, a partner at venture capitalist firm First Round Capital. “It caught up with online. The only thing chasing is TV. TV and everything else is dropping in terms of time spent. That’s a safe trend to bet on.”

Not that this indicates the beginning of the end for broadcast TV advertising. Pete Stein, Global CEO of Razorfish, disagrees that TV viewership is on the wane. “Average TV viewing time is actually up,” he said. “The difference is increased fragmentation with simultaneous consumption across multiple devices – TV, iPad, mobile.”

Baba Shetty, chief strategy and media officer at DigitasLBi, also sees continued revenue growth across digital channels – due to the cross-channel consumption Stein identified – as well as broadcast TV. “We’ve had one of our strongest years yet for growth in our media business,” he said. “Digital ad spend is strong (as the IAB reports) but data-driven cross-channel in particular has been a big driver for us. TV buying is strong as well.”

Online advertising channels performed well across the board. Display ad revenue grew 7% to $12.8 billion, video grew 19% to $2.8 billion and search grew 9% to  $18.4 billion.

The top three verticals driving this growth, according to the IAB, include retail (21% of ad revenues) financial services (13%) and automotive (12%).

But is this growth, particularly the three-year explosion in mobile, sustainable?

For Greg Coleman, president of global technology company Criteo, the narrative should focus less on mobile as a standalone channel. In two years, he said, the conversation will center around reach. “Our clients increasingly want an integrated solution and need to reach their most profitable customers wherever they are – regardless of the platform,” he said. That being said, he predicted mobile’s growth won’t stop as it “continues to become an inherent part of effectively reaching, engaging and converting consumers.”

Razorfish’s Stein said mobile’s growth comes from its relatively small base and, over the next three to five years, as that base grows, the growth curve will flatten, “unless there is a breakthrough in cross-device optimization via fingerprinting technology.” This hope echoes Coleman’s anticipation that mobile will become less standalone and more integrated.

But Stein issued words of caution: “One has to be wary and cognizant of the privacy issues.”

Must Read

Scott Spencer’s New Startup Wants To Help Users Monetize Their Online Advertising Data

What happens when an ad tech developer partners with a cybersecurity expert to start a new company? You end up with a consumer product that is both a privacy software service and a programmatic advertising ID.

Former FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya speaks to AdExchanger Managing Editor Allison Schiff at Programmatic IO NY 2025.

Advertisers Probably Shouldn’t Target Teens At All, Cautions Former FTC Commissioner

Alvaro Bedoya shared his qualms with digital advertising’s more controversial targeting tactics and how kids use gen AI and social media.

Wall Street Turned Against Ad Tech – But May Learn To Love It Again

What can pureplay ad tech companies do to clean up their rep on the Street?

Privacy! Commerce! Connected TV! Read all about it. Subscribe to AdExchanger Newsletters

AppsFlyer and Roku’s New SRN Integration Will Shed Light On CTV Campaign Impact

Roku and AppsFlyer announced the launch of a new self-reporting network (SRN) integration between both companies, which will allow mobile app advertisers to more effectively measure their streaming video campaigns

Comic: Gamechanger (Google lost the DOJ's search antitrust case)

DOJ v. Google: How Judge Brinkema Seems To Be Thinking After Week One

Where the DOJ v. Google ad tech antitrust trial stands after one week’s worth of remedies arguments.

Swish, A Company That's Bringing Programmatic to Product Sampling, Announces Seed Funding

Swish, a startup that partners with retailers to provide product full-size CPG samples to people doing their grocery shopping online, announces $2.3 million in seed funding.