Internet Ad Revenue Grew To $36.6B In 2012, Mobile Up 111 Percent (According To IAB)

The Interactive Advertising Bureau just released its full-year report for 2012, showing that digital ad revenue set a new record of $36.6 billion, up 15 percent from 2011.

Mobile was the fastest-growing category, though it still accounts for a relatively small part (9 percent) of overall revenue. Mobile ad revenue totaled $3.4 billion, compared to 2011 when it grew 149 percent to $1.6 billion.

Those numbers are consistent with IAB’s mid-year report, which showed that overall growth was slowing while mobile took off. (In 2011, total digital ad revenue grew 22 percent.)

“These record-breaking numbers represent a paradigm shift when it comes to marketers recognizing the role a multiplicity of screens plays in effectively reaching today’s consumers,” IAB President and CEO Randall Rothenberg said (in the press release summarizing the report). “Mobile, in particular, soared due to its ubiquity and intrinsic ability to serve as a powerful digital dashboard that travels with you from morning commute to nighttime video viewing and beyond.”

Here’s how ad revenue broke down in other categories:

• Digital video increased 29 percent to $2.3 billion.
• Search increased 14.5 percent to $16.9 billion.
• Display advertising increased almost 9 percent to $12 billion.

The report also states that overall revenue for the fourth quarter of 2012 was $9 billion, up 14.9 percent from the same period in 2011.

The numbers were prepared by PwC US for the IAB. You can download the full report here.