IAB: desktop and mobile paid search bring in roughly half of 2015 digital ad revenue

Earlier today, the IAB released its Q4 and full-year 2015 digital ad revenue report for the US market. Online ad spending last year was worth nearly $60 billion ($59.6 billion), which represented more than 20 percent growth over 2014.

Below is the 2015 breakdown by ad category:

Desktop-based paid search brought in 34 percent of total ad revenue, or roughly $20.3 billion. This was down from 38 percent a year ago. However, real dollars grew by more than $1 billion over 2014.

Mobile ad revenue was approximately 35 percent of the 2015 total, or $20.8 billion, a 66-percent increase from the 2014 total ($12.5 billion). Of the 2015 mobile total, 43 percent ($8.9 billion) was from paid search.

The combined value of paid search on the desktop and in mobile was roughly $29.2 billion in 2015. Accordingly, the total search market represented approximately 49 percent of total digital ad revenue in 2015. By comparison, the combined value of desktop and mobile display (defined broadly to include video and other formats) was $24.6 billion, or 41 percent of total digital revenue.

See our companion Marketing Land story that explores the report more fully.

About The Author

Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He researches and writes about the connections between digital and offline commerce. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.