The IAB Australia Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER) has found that online advertising has continued to grow despite the challenging economic conditions, reaching $3.732 billion for the September 2023 quarter.
The data prepared by PwC shows online advertising increased 7.8 per cent year on year and 2.1 per cent over the preceding quarter.
Total expenditure by category in the September 2023 quarter was $1.630bn for Search and directories, $1.451bn for general display and $649.2m for classifieds.
Classified advertising was the standout growth category for the September 2023 quarter, recording an 11.3 per cent increase over the June 2023 quarter, though just an 0.8 per cent increase on the September 2022 quarter. General display advertising increased 2.7 per cent over the June 2023 quarter and 8 per cent year-on-year from the September 2022 quarter. Search and directories softened by 1.6 per cent from June 2023 but increased 10.6 per cent year-on-year from September 2022.
Within general display advertising, audio advertising expenditure recorded no growth quarter over the June quarter reaching $68 million for the September quarter, but it increased 16.2 per cent year-on-year from September 2022. Video advertising recorded a 5 per cent growth quarter-on-quarter to reach $968.1 million for the September quarter and 15 per cent growth year-on-year from September 2022.
Retail, automotive and the health & beauty sector all reported strong growth in the September quarter, with retail reaching 17.1 per cent share of general display advertising, automotive increasing to 15.4 per cent and health and beauty reaching 7.9 per cent. Finance (8.7 per cent) and FMCG (5.7 per cent) remain in the top five industry categories for expenditure.
“It is encouraging to see marketers continue to invest in advertising to drive growth. However, investment in different media environments was not universal and the market was tough for many organisations. Retail continues to be the number one advertiser category with investment from local and global retailers. It is also pleasing to see the uplift in automotive advertising with share of spend in the general display category above 15 per cent for the first time since September 2020,” said Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia.
Connected TV continues to yield the greatest share of content publisher’s video inventory investment, increasing from 45 per cent in the June quarter to 54 per cent in the September quarter buoyed in part by Women’s Football World Cup activity. Desktop reduced from 38 per cent to 25 per cent in the same period, while mobile investment increased from 17 per cent to 21 per cent.
