Online Ad Spending Remains Strong Down Under

Despite falling ad revenues in Europe and the U.S. last year, the online ad market is fairing comparatively well down under, according to the Australian Interactive Advertising Bureau.

The trade body’s annual expenditure survey, conducted in conjunction with PwC, reported a 27 percent rise in ad spend during 2008, resulting in a total spend of $1.7 billion Australian Dollars ($1.17 billion USD) for the year.

However, it seems even the Aussies aren’t entirely immune to the economic slowdown, as spending began to dip during the fourth quarter, achieving a sub-average figure of 22 percent growth over Q4 2007, and a 2.4 percent rise over Q3 2008.

That said, it’s worth noting that the Australian market is somewhat less mature than its U.S. and U.K. counterparts and, as a result, a slight slowing of the market can be expected.

Interestingly, considering the problems the medium has faced in other markets, display advertising remained a strong grower, in line with the overall market with 27 percent year-on-year increase. Unsurprisingly, search and directories posted strong growth at 30 percent, but classifieds under-performed the rest of the market with 23 percent growth.