Australia – The Australian internet advertising market has grown 11.1% year-on-year to reach $16.4b spend for the full calendar year 2024 according to the IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report (IARR) which was released recently.
The report, prepared in collaboration with PwC Australia, reveals significant growth in digital advertising investment, with video leading the charge. Video ad spend surged by 19.6% year over year, reaching $4.5 billion in 2024.
Search and directories saw a 10.1% increase, totaling $7.2b, while classifieds grew by 8.3% to $2.6b. Display advertising (excluding video) experienced modest growth of 1.7%, reaching $2b, while audio advertising recorded a strong 17.8% increase, totaling $313m.
All video formats saw double-digit growth throughout 2024, with social platform video now accounting for more than one-third of total video ad spend—surpassing BVOD and other video formats. A key driver of this surge was increased investment tied to the Olympic Games in Q3.
Connected TV remained the dominant format for content publishers’ video inventory, capturing 51% of total expenditure for the calendar year—a record high—while mobile and desktop investment declined.
The breakdown of content publishers’ display inventory purchasing remained stable, with agency-driven internet advertising via insertion order holding at 44%, client direct buying at 17%, and programmatic purchases at 39%.
Retail continued to lead in display advertising spend, commanding a 17.1% share in 2024. The automotive sector sustained its post-COVID recovery, rising to 14.8%, while finance rounded out the top three, slightly dipping to 8%.
Gai Le Roy CEO of IAB Australia commented: “After a modest growth rate of 3.7% in 2023, the digital advertising market again achieved double digit growth in 2024 sustained by an ever-increasing range of ad formats and environments, as well as spend from the SME market right through to the big end of town. As always growth is mixed across the market, and it is tougher for those content publishers who do not have significant video inventory and are relying on standard display inventory.”
