Internet ad revenue in Canada in 2013 outpaces U.S., overtops television

For the first time in Canada, online advertising revenue has surpassed television, according to the latest Global Entertainment Media Outlook 2014-2018 report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). In 2013, internet advertising grew by about 16% (the lowest seen in post-recession years) and brought in $3.8 billion, topping $3.6 billion from television. The report says the likely trend is for internet advertising to approach double television by 2018, $7.2 billion versus $4.1 billion. Compare this with the U.S. where television is expected to still be ahead through 2018. According to a story in Media in Canada

This may be because Canada’s projected 13.9% average growth rate for internet advertising over the next five years outpaces the global rate of 10.7%, while our country’s rate of 2.4% for television is less than half the global rate of 5.5%.

The report attributes the internet ad growth to Canadians being some of the most active internet users in the world, the continuing strength of paid search advertising and huge increases in video and mobile advertising. Video ad spending grew by 47.7% in 2013, while paid searches contributed $1.5 billion to the total. 

The second biggest area of advertising growth in Canada last year was in the video game industry, growing by 13.4%. By 2018, revenue from video game advertising is predicted to nearly double from $89 million to $164 million.