IAB: Q1 Online Ad Revenues Up 15% Over 2011

The first quarter of 2012 was a very good one for the interactive advertising industry — the best first quarter on record, in fact, according to the latest Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) figures. Those surveyed by the IAB and Pricewaterhouse Coopers said they brought in $8.4 billion, 15% more than recorded in the year-ago period.

President and CEO Randall Rothenberg attributed the increase to marketers’ continued movement of their money online, to follow digital consumers on their computers, tablets or smartphones.

The first quarter revenue wasn’t down as dramatically from the fourth quarter as one might expect. In the fourth quarter of 2011, spending came in at around $9.0 billion. The fourth quarter is typically the strongest for the advertising industry as a whole, considering spending increases centered around Thanksgiving and December holidays.

The IAB and PwC arrived at the numbers by interviewing media companies about their revenues derived from interactive advertising. The industry group releases brief overviews of spending in the first and third quarters, going into substantially greater detail in the second and fourth quarters.