Dive Brief:
- According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), U.S. advertising revenue in Q1 hit a record amount of $15.9 billion, up from$13.2 billion from last year, a 21% year-over-year increase.
- The jump represents the largest quarterly increase in over four years.
- The IAB’s quarterly Advertising Revenue Report is conducted independently by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Dive Insight:
“These landmark revenues confirm the growing importance of interactive for brand marketers to reach consumers who are increasingly spending their time on digital screens,” David Doty, evp and CMO at IAB, said in a statement. “Last year the industry reached its highest level of investment at over $50 billion, and this first quarter lays the foundation for what could very well be the biggest year yet for digital ad spending.”
In the same statement David Silverman, a partner at PwC US, said the numbers reflected the vitality of the interactive marketplace and the “power of digital to attract consumers.”
The record-setting surge in online ad spending also indicates marketers are becoming increasingly comfortable moving ad dollars to digital. Some areas of digital advertising that have become popular over the last year include programmatic ad buying, and rich-media ads such as video on mobile websites and social media platforms.