Digital revenue to grow by nearly $1 billion this year: IAB report

by David Brown
  • 2017 marked a “critical global turning point” for online advertising
  • Mobile surged 35% to $3.5 billion in 2017, accounting for nearly three-quarters of new digital revenue
  • Total online ad revenue expected to rise by over $945 million, to $7.7 billion, in 2018

Canadian advertisers spent more on digital—$6.8 billion—than TV, radio and newspapers combined in 2017, and digital is expected to attract nearly $1 billion ($945 million) in additional revenue this year, according to the latest revenue study from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Video is killing it

Digital video advertising rose $447 million to $928 million in 2017, the first year its dollar volume increase was as large as either search (+$444 million) or display (+$411 million) advertising. In fact, its steep surge knocked down search and display’s combined share of total digital revenue from 88% to 84%.

French-language digital on the rise

French-language revenue jumped 27%—outpacing the country as a whole—to reach $1.15 billion, surpassing the forecasted $1 billion. French language’s share of total Canadian digital revenue also ticked up slightly, from 16% to 17%. The growth for French language video (94%) was similar to its growth as a whole. The French-language market is expected to reach $1.3 billion this year, a 10% increase over 2017.

Automotive, retail and financial continue to lead the way

Continuing a trend dating back to 2015, automotive, retail and financial were the dominant ad categories, accounting for a respective 18%, 16% and 14% of the total digital ad spend.

Growth brings a renewed focus on safety & fraud

Digital’s exponential growth has led to increased advertiser scrutiny around myriad issues that continue to bedevil the online advertising ecosystem, from unsafe brand environments to ad fraud. That has led to the adoption of tools like IAB Ads.txt aimed at curbing fraud; the Open Measurement SKD Kit to drive consistent measurement and verification across mobile; along with other best-practice toolkits.

They said:  “This growth is a testament to the power of digital media to connect brands with consumers through powerful creative and innovative technologies.” —IAB Canada president Sonia Carreno

David Brown