Online advertising in 2020’s fourth quarter gained 29 percent from the same period in 2019, the latest indication that an economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic may be in sight, according to a new report by ad organization the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
According to the IAB’s latest quarterly findings, Q4’s $45.6 billion in Internet advertising accounts for the highest quarterly revenues on record for digital advertising in 20 years. Overall, online ad spends in 2020 topped $140 billion, revealing a year-over-year increase of 12.2 percent.
Digital video advertising revenues saw the greatest gains—experiencing 20.6 percent year-over-year growth—and now comprise 18.7 percent of all online ad spends. Social media advertising followed—growing 16.3 percent year-over-year—and now accounts for 29.6 percent of all online ad spends.
The report also found that seven of every $10 spent on digital advertising now goes to mobile.
Finally, the IAB report discovered that revenue from programmatic advertising grew nearly 25 percent last year—or $14.2 billion—to total $71.2 billion. Programmatic ads now account for 88 percent of ad spends, up from 82 percent last year.
The findings appear in the IAB’s latest "Internet Advertising Report," a quarterly estimate of U.S. interactive advertising revenues. That report is sponsored by the IAB and was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers US.
SKDK has Ryan Thompson, who was chief mobilization officer for the Harris for President campaign, to run its new Blizzard TXT, a new peer-to-peer SMS/MMS texting platform.
Eric Petersen, who was senior VP-social strategy & innovation at Weber Shandwick during a seven-year run, has joined Ruder Finn.
Adam Shapiro, who helped develop FGS Global’s digital strategy, has joined Reevemark as its digital head.
Avika Dua, who was digital director for New York governor Kathy Hochul, has joined SKDK as a VP to work on both political and corporate campaigns.
Maxwell Nunes, who was director of paid media for South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, has joined SKDK as executive VP.
