Global internet ad revenue totals $ 8.4 b in 1Q

Advertising revenue hit an all-time high in the first quarter, totalling $ 8.4 billion – a roughly 15 per cent surge since the $7.3 billion earned in the same period last year, a new report said.

The latest IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, conducted by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, showed the growth in the mobile, online video and social media spheres likely helped inflate the coffers of digital-media companies.

“More online consumers than ever are taking to the Internet to inform and navigate their daily lives – by desktop, tablet or smartphone,” Randall Rothenberg, the President and CEO of IAB, said in a statement. “Marketers and agencies are clearly – and wisely – investing dollars to reach digitally connected consumers.”

However, though revenue reached new highs, the growth of first-quarter sales slowed this year compared to the 24 per cent increase from $5.9 billion reported in the first quarter of 2010.

Still, cash-haemorrhaging newspapers saw only a one percent of the digital ad revenue, according to the Newspaper Association of America.