Online Advertising Hits $31.7 Billion In 2011

Internet ad spending grew 22% in 2011 to $31.7 billion, according to the latest data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. That growth rate tops last year’s 14.5%, indicating digital advertising continues to ramp up after a recession-induced setback in 2009.

For the fourth quarter of 2011, online ad spending hit nearly $9 billion, up 20.4% from a year ago, and 14.7% from the third quarter. The IAB said mobile advertising -- which it began tracking in 2010 for the first time -- was the fastest-growing category in 2011, jumping 149% to $1.6 billion from $641 million in 2010. Mobile also doubled from 2.5% to 5% of total online ad dollars this year. Digital video advertising, which the IAB includes as part of display advertising, saw strong growth as well, rising 29% from $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion. Overall, display spending rose 15% in 2011 from $9.6 billion to $11.1 billion. Search advertising enjoyed even bigger gains, growing 27% from $11.7 billion to $14.8 billion. It continued to make up the largest proportion of online ad spend: at 46.5%, up from 44.8% in 2010. That increase came at the expense of display, which declined from 37% in 2010 to 34.8% last year.