IAB: Mobile Ad Revenues Soared 76% in 2014

Mobile ad revenues soared to $12.5 billion in 2014, representing a 76 percent increase – up from $7.1 billion – since 2013, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) annual revenue report. This figure is just part of a burgeoning digital advertising industry, which grew by 16 percent to $49.5 billion in sales last year.

“High double-digit growth in mobile advertising is a reflection of the continued shift in consumer behavior away from desktop and towards mobile devices,” says David Silverman, partner at PwC US, which worked with the IAB to produce the report.

Social media advertising also saw flourishing returns, according to the research, totaling $7 billion in 2014, up by 57 percent over 2013’s total of $4.5 billion.

Other highlights from the report include:

• Display-related advertising revenues in 2014 totaled $13.5 billion, an uptick of 5 percent over $12.8 billion in 2013.
• Digital video, a component of display-related advertising, totaled $3.3 billion in full year 2014, a 17 percent increase over revenues of $2.8 billion in 2013.
• Search revenues totaled $19 billion in 2014, up 3 percent from 2013, when search totaled $18.4 billion.

Lastly, the research also revealed that retail advertisers continue to represent the largest category of Internet ad spending, responsible for 21 percent in 2014, followed by financial services at 13 percent, and automotive at 12 percent.

“Interactive marketing has generated remarkable revenue growth, a testament to its power to reach today’s consumers with innovative formats at critical junctures in the path to purchase,” says Sherrill Mane, senior vice president of research, analytics, and measurement at IAB.