IAB Canada Speaks – Online Revenues Are Explosive

The IAB Canada – Interactive Advertising Bureau – issued an impressive press release today. I’m not going to paraphrase, so I decided (in a rare moment of weakness) to simply reprint this press release in the hopes that you will:
A) Read it and get on board.
B) Pass this on to your boss, colleagues and friends.
C) Not think that I am reprinting this because I am the Vice-Chair, Quebec for the IAB Canada (seriously, no nepotism here).
Investment In Online Channel Increasing At Explosive Rate
Toronto, Sept. 8, 2005 – Online Revenues will exceed $500 million dollars in 2005, according to the annual revenue survey by the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB).
The survey estimates that the year-end total for Online advertising in Canada in 2005 will be $519 million, a full 43 percent more than the 2004 figure.
Driven by growth in Display and Search advertising, actual Online advertising revenue in Canada for 2004 was confirmed at 364 million — a full 54 percent higher than the 2003 actual revenue of $237 million. And, of the $364 million, approximately $65.5 million or 18 percent of ad dollars were allocated to the French Canadian market.
Display advertising continues to garner the largest portion of the Online advertising pie at 45 percent of total revenues, while Search advertising grew dollars to a 30 percent share of all online advertising in 2004. The remaining 2004 Online ad categories include Classified/Directories/Direct Response at 22 percent of total revenue, and E-mail at 3 percent.
“These numbers confirm what we have been feeling in the market for some time now,” says Brent Lowe-Bernie, Chair of the IAB. “Investment in the Online channel is increasing at an explosive rate as advertisers and their agencies follow the movement of consumers, and optimize learning from research such as the IAB’s publisher-supported Canadian Media Optimization Studies (CMOST).”
“And, there’s still plenty of room for growth in 2005 and beyond,” says Paula Gignac, Executive Director of the IAB. “Recent research by Ipsos-Reid’s shows that the Internet has eclipsed Radio in popularity among all wired Canadians, and actually trumps TV in the 18-34 demographic. In the U.S., Online’s share is already at 8 percent, and growing steadily in response to similar media consumption shifts. Yet at the 2004 level of $364 million, Online advertising still represents just 4 percent of the total advertising dollars spent in Canada. Clearly, a wealth of opportunities still exist for advertisers to tap into the channel in order to build their businesses.”
About the Internet Advertising Revenue Report:
A copy of the full report is available for download at iabcanada.com. The 2004 actual revenues and the 2005 projected revenues were reached after a comprehensive survey of all major Online publishers in Canada. The top 100 sites selling advertising in Canada were surveyed, with the study benefiting from a 43 percent response rate. Revenue data was compiled by Ernst & Young in conjunction with analysis by Faulkner Consulting.
A second revenue survey will be conducted in 2005 near the end of the year, to confirm 2005 estimates and provide an early snapshot of projected growth in 2006.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada is the national voice of the Canadian Interactive marketing and advertising industry, and is a not-for-profit association representing a membership composed of publishers, agencies, advertisers and interactive service associates.