Display Up 6.4% In First Half Of Year; Facebook And Video Display Driving Growth

It's time for a bit of back-slapping and industry smugness, as the latest IAB survey confirms how great we all are. The display market grew 6.4% to £381 million in the first half of this year. The growth was fuelled in part by social media display and online video advertising. Great news for the industry - but search continues to grow at a faster rate. Search spend rose by 8.9% and now accounts for 59.9% of the online ad market, a total of £1,180.1 million. That stat is always an eye-opener, and a reminder of how much search advertising still dominates. I haven't seen the full report, but as ever the reporting on these numbers is ridiculously confusing. The breakdown of total display is never reported properly. A nice chart would be great. PWC spend a lot of money putting this report together in order to look like a thought-leader in the space. You’d think the IAB or the Guardian could throw a chart together outlining how the display market is broken down. Here's what I've gleaned from this morning's chatter. The total display market now stands at £381 million in H1. £272 million of that figure is allocated to standard embedded ad units (banners, skyscrapers, MPUs, et al). Display advertising on social media sites now accounts for 13%, about £49.53. Doubtless, Facebook is accounting for most of that. The online video market is now worth £20.7 million. That still leaves £38.77 million unaccounted for. So what part of display is taking that allocation - mobile or affiliate? Don't get me wrong this is all positive stuff - especially for publishers. But when reporting these stats it's better to get the full picture instead of the soundbites. Some nice visuals would be great. Let the back-slapping continue.