IAB: Search, the largest category of digital ad spending, generated $40.6B in 2017

Mobile was responsible for 54 percent of paid-search ad revenue last year.

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The IAB and PwC today released its Internet Advertising Revenue Report, which asserts that digital advertising is now officially bigger than TV advertising in the US. Digital ad spending reached $88 billion last year, of which mobile contributed nearly 57 percent.

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Paid search advertising (desktop and mobile) came in at roughly $40.6 billion for the full year 2017. That was an increase of 18 percent from 2016’s reported $34.6 billion. However, the percentage of digital ad revenue captured by search fell slightly on a percentage basis, to 46.2 percent from 47.7 percent in 2016.

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Paid search represented 49 percent ($18.6 billion) of desktop ad revenue and 44 percent ($22 billion) of mobile. Overall mobile search revenue was 54 percent of the paid-search total. Read our full coverage of the IAB report here.


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About the author

Greg Sterling
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Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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