US Digital Advertising Grew 22% In 2011 To $31 Billion

Strong growth in search, display, and mobile advertising pushed US digital advertising revenue up to $31 billion in 2011 according to a report from PwC and the IAB – with $9 billion in revenue in Q4 alone. That is a 22% increase in year-on-year revenues when compared with 2010 – a huge increase.

Other highlights from the report included:

• Mobile experienced the fastest growth of all categories – triple-digit growth year-over-year – up 149 percent to $1.6 billion in full-year 2011 from $0.6 billion in 2010.
• Digital video, a component of display-related advertising, saw a significant uptick of 29 percent year-over-year, bringing in $1.8 billion in revenue in 2011 compared to $1.4 billion in 2010.
• Search revenues in 2011 totaled $14.8 billion, up almost 27 percent from $11.7 billion in 2010.
• Display-related advertising revenues in 2011 totaled $11.1 billion or 35 percent of 2011 revenues, up 15 percent from $9.6 billion in 2010.
• Retail advertisers continue to represent the largest category of internet ad spending, accounting for 22 percent in 2011, or $7.1 billion, up from 21 percent ($5.5 billion) reported in 2010.

Here are the results from the full year in comparison with last year’s numbers:
Revenue (Ad Formats)

	Full Year 2010 *		Full Year 2011
	%	$	%	$
Search	44.8%	$11,661	46.5%	$14,768
Classifieds and Directories	10.0%	$2,597	8.1%	$2,580
Lead Generation	5.1%	$1,323	4.8%	$1,522
E-mail	0.7%	$195	0.7%	$213
Mobile*	2.5%	$641	5.0%	$1,596
Display-related
-Digital Video Commercials	5.4%	$1,404	5.7%	$1,809
-Ad banners / display ads	22.9%	$5,963	21.5%	$6,811
-Sponsorships	2.8%	$718	3.5%	$1,121
-Rich media	5.9%	$1,539	4.1%	$1,315
Total display-related	37.0%	$9,624	34.8%	$11,056

* Revised from prior year to include mobile as a discreet category

 

Revenue (Pricing Models)

	Full Year 2010		Full Year 2011
	%	$	%	$
Impression-based	33.0%	$8,589	31.3%	$9,926
Performance-based	62.2%	$16,198	64.6%	$20,491
Hybrid	4.8%	$1,254	4.2%	$1,318

[via IAB]