Online advertising in Ireland increased 12.8pc in first half of 2012

13 Nov 2012

Online advertising in Ireland increased 12.8pc to €73.2m in the first half of 2012, according to the latest Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) figures.

The IAB and PwC AdSpend study contrasts with a 6.7pc decrease in adspend in traditional media during the same period.

Paid-for search advertising grew from €27.2m to €32.7m year-on-year, representing a 45pc share of the total online ad spend.

Display advertising holds a 34pc share of the market with spend of €24.6m up €3.9m on the previous year.

This is understood to be one of the main contributors to the growth in display spend on social media sites.

Advertising on social media sites during the first half of 2012 came in at just under €3m.

Classified advertising online grew by €2.3m in the first half and holds a 21pc share of total online adspend.

The FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) sector is now the top spending category in online display spend, holding 16pc of the total display spend, up from 12pc last year.

Finance is in second place at 11.6pc, followed by telecoms firms with 10pc and entertainment and media at 9.6pc.

Key drivers of online advertising in 2012

The IAB/PwC study indicates that 80pc of all Irish people are now online, compared with an EU average of 65pc.

Interestingly, 58pc of people who are online are also watching TV at the same time, compared with the EU average of 48pc.

Time spent online now stands at 13.5 hours a week.

Digital advertising is also getting a bigger slice of the adspend cake, with Irish marketers growing their spend from 27pc favouring a budget share of more than 25pc to 42pc dedicating more than 25pc of their budget online.

“Irish advertisers are increasingly devoting more budget online and using digital to engage more meaningfully with their audience,” IAB Ireland chief executive Suzanne McElligott explained.

“The 12.8pc growth recorded in the H1 2012 online adspend reflects the central role online now plays in Irish marketing campaigns,” she added.

Digital marketing image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com