Internet advertising has reached new heights.
That’s according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which said that in the first half of 2012, internet advertising revenues reached an all-time high of $17 billion.
That represents a 14 percent increase year-over-year. This performance is compared to the $14.9 billion reported for the first six months of 2011.
IAB finds that mobile generated significant growth – almost doubling year-over-year – up 95 percent to $1.2 billion in half-year 2012 from $636 million in the comparable 2011 period.
Retail advertisers, interestingly enough, constitute the largest category of internet ad spending for the first half of this year, claiming 20 percent of the total revenues at $3.4 billion, while Automotive brought in $2.2 billion for first-half 2012, marking an uptick to 13 percent versus 11 percent of category spend reported for half-year 2011 at $1.7 billion.
“This report establishes that marketers increasingly embrace mobile and digital video, as well as the entire panoply of interactive platforms, to reach consumers in innovative and creative ways,” says Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of IAB. “These half-year figures come on the heels of a study from Harvard Business School researchers that points to the ad-supported internet ecosystem as a critical driver of the U.S. economy. Clearly, the digital marketing industry is on a positive trajectory that will propel the entire American business landscape forward.”
To learn more about the report, click here.