Aussie Digital Ad Market Was Worth $13 Billion In 2021, Up 35.8% YOY

The Australian online advertising market is nearing $13 billion in calendar year 2021, a stunning 35.8 per cent growth on the preceding year according to data from the IAB Australia Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER) prepared by PwC. It follows two years of slow growth for the industry, at 2.4 per cent for 2020 and 5.6 per cent growth for 2019

Video advertising retains the crown for the format driving the most growth in the market, up 48 per cent year on year to reach $2.88 billion.

However, classifieds which had been the hardest hit digital advertising revenue stream over the last couple of years, had a strong bounce back in 2021 increasing 41.5 per cent compared to 2020 to reach $2.2 billion. General display advertising was up 38.2 per cent to reach $5.1 billion, while search and directories increased 31.7 per cent to reach $5.7 billion.

Gai Le Roy (main photo), CEO of IAB Australia commented: “The exceptional growth in the Australian digital advertising market in 2021 has been driven by a combination of two key factors. Businesses have accelerated their digital transformation and investment over the last two years, but we’ve also seen a resurgence in marketing spend by businesses to drive economic growth as we exit COVID lockdowns and restrictions.”

Retail retained the number one advertiser category for the full year, representing 16.3 per cent share of the general display market up from 15.6 per cent. The auto category dropped back in share yet again to 10.7 per cent from 12.9 per cent in 2020, however there are indications of slightly stronger auto investment in early 2022.

Although the overall share of investment in content site inventory via programmatic didn’t experience a major change for 2021, with total programmatic spend stable at 42 per cent, investment via programmatic guaranteed (PG) increased significantly, reaching 13 per cent in 2021, up from 11 per cent in 2020 and just seven per cent in 2019.

December Quarter Results

Online advertising revenue for the final quarter of the 2021 calendar increased 21.3 per cent compared to the December quarter in 2020, to reach $3.58 billion.
Classifieds bounded back with an increase of 43.4 per cent supported by a strong employment, real estate, and second-hand car market.
The general display market was worth $1.47 billion up 21.3 per cent versus the comparative quarter in 2020. Video inventory represented 55 per cent of all money invested in the general display category and was up 25 per cent versus the December quarter in 2020.
Connected TV represented 43 per cent of content publishers video investment followed by desktop on 32 per cent and then mobile at 25 per cent.
After a few false starts, travel industry ad spend picked up in the December quarter to reach 4.5 per cent, almost doubling the share in Dec 2020, but still at half of the spend share it had in 2019.

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