Web Attracting More Ad Dollars

[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] Australian Web sites drew more than AUS $22 million (US $13.2 million) in advertising in the three months up to June this year, according to online analyst and research group www.consult.

According to the company’s AdMonitor service, which provides monthly online advertising expenditure numbers by advertiser and industry, revenue growth has been increasingly strong for the past three months.

June revenue was placed at AUS $8.5 million (US $5.1 million), compared to the total AUS$6.6 million (US $3.96) spent online in the same period last year.

AdMonitor results are based on the active campaigns identified by the service and run on the 300 Australian Web sites accepting paid advertising. These estimates are confirmed in consultation with Australian online publishers, advertising networks, agencies and advertisers to produce a final figure, the company said.

The aggregated data shows that in the five months to May, ten advertisers have been consistently spending more than $100,000 a month on their online advertising.

According to the company, another indication of strong growth in the industry is that there are now more than 70 advertisers spending up to AUS $20,000 (US $12,000) in online advertising on a monthly basis, representing three times the number of advertisers compared to last year.

Releasing the online advertising figures, www.consult’s media analyst, Anthony Tan, said the results indicated that online publishers and agencies were delivering value to their clients.

“The key advertising categories driving online spend are banking and financial services, retail, classifieds, technology and media,” said Mr Tan.

“The half-yearly results confirm www.consult estimates of a $100 million year in online advertising revenue, excluding Olympic advertising. Should the consistent growth in online advertising continue through to December, the Australian Internet economy will have experienced three-fold advertising growth for three consecutive years,” he said.