For the first time since the start of data collection in 2002, online advertising revenue exceeded advertising revenue for free-to-air television. Total online advertising expenditure for the six months ending 30 June 2013 was $1882.6 million, compared to TV revenue which pulled in $1805.4 million for the same period.

Online advertising expenditure in Australia reached $3.6 billion in the last financial year, a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has found. That is an increase of 14.6% on the preceding year according to ‘IAB Australia’s Online Advertising Expenditure Report’ (OAER).

The report also found digital growth doubled in all three categories (mobile, search and directories and general display) but mobile was the real winner, achieving a growth of 190% year on year to 30 June 2013. Search and directories grew 18% year on year, while general display grew 12% and classifieds were up 10%.

Internet advertising revenue in Australia was up by 15.7% totalling $971.9 million in the last quarter. Mobile advertising revenues reached $45.9 million for the June quarter 2013, of which 58% was tablet based and video display advertising grew by 56% year on year for the June quarter, recording $35.7 million.

General display advertising accounted for 27.3% of all online advertising, classifieds advertising accounted for 18.9% and search and directories advertising accounted for 53.8% based on expenditure for the June quarter.

Gai Le Roy, director of research for IAB Australia, comments on the findings, “Achieving $3.6 billion in online advertising revenue in a challenging advertising environment is a great result for the industry and the double-digital growth in each of the three digital advertising sectors is exceptional. As expected, mobile advertising was the star performer as advertisers move their budgets to start matching consumer behaviour and video advertising growth continues to impress as marketers target the 13 million Australians streaming video content each month.”