Online advertising expenditure has increased 9.3 per cent year-on-year, according to data released today in the IAB Australia Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER) prepared by PwC Australia.
Total advertising expenditure for the quarter ended 31st March 2024 reached $3.746bn despite a 4.2 per cent softening in spend from the preceding quarter, in line with seasonal trends.
Compared to the quarter ending March 2023, Search and directories experienced 9.3 per cent year-on-year growth, reaching $1.724bn. General display advertising reported a 14.8 per cent increase ($1.410bn) driven by social, audio and video, while classifieds expenditure dropped 1.8 per cent year on year ($612m).
Video and audio advertising both delivered double-digit growth year-on-year, with video expenditure increasing 21 per cent to reach $944.9m and audio expenditure increasing 26 per cent to reach $65.6m. Standard display (a subset of general display for traditional display banner formats) dropped back 6 per cent and now represents just 9 per cent of the general display market.
When compared to the preceding quarter (December 2023), all general display advertising categories including video, native, standard display and audio saw a decline in advertising expenditure spend in line with previously experienced seasonal trends.
Travel and finance remained in the top five general display industry categories despite decreasing share compared to the March 2023 quarter. They joined retail, automotive, and health and beauty, each of which experienced increased market share. FMCG and home products showed a preference for video advertising for the quarter.
“Search, social video and audio have been the star performers, helping bolster the traditionally slower first quarter results. The report suggests that many marketers are focused on short term sales targets with the continued economic downturn and lack of consumer confidence. However, it is encouraging to see continued investment in digital advertising, and we encourage marketers, where possible, to ensure that they are diversifying their investment to take advantage of the media multiplier effect,” said Gai Le Roy CEO of IAB Australia.
The share of content publishers’ inventory bought via an agency insertion order increased again, reaching 25 per cent for the quarter, while inventory purchased directly increased to 18 per cent, and the balance of inventory bought programmatically (guaranteed deals and RTB/PMP) decreased slightly.
