Friday 12th May, 2023
- Total digital ad spend was €861m in 2022, reflecting a growth of 4% from 2021.
- Online display advertising grew 3% to €513m in 2022, with Non Social Display and Video cited as the primary drivers.
- Non Social Display grew by 8% to €121m in 2022.
- Search advertising grew by 4% to €300m.
- Classified advertising grew by 11% to €48m, with a 6% share of total online adspend.
- IAB Ireland adspend participants predict digital adspend growth in 2023 of 7% on average.
Digital advertising spend in the Irish market for 2022 reached €861m according to the latest results of the IAB PwC Online Adspend report, reflecting a growth rate of 4% year-on-year (YoY).
Display advertising grew by 3% to €513m in 2022, which was driven by the growth in Video at 7% YoY and Non Social Display growth of 8%. Following years of dramatic growth for Social Display, from €217m in 2019 to €376m in 2022 (73% growth), 2022 was an almost flat year for Social Display with 0.2% growth (YoY). Despite the levelling off of Social Display in 2022, the Display format remains the dominant format in the Irish market holding a share of 59% of the total digital advertising market. Digital Audio continues to grow strongly with 33% growth recorded in 2022 and a spend of €16m.
Search advertising grew by 4% YoY in 2022 with an adspend of €300m and a share of 35% of the total Irish digital advertising market.
2022 Market Conditions
Reflecting the challenges experienced in cost of living and global uncertainty, the Credit Union Consumer Sentiment study recorded a low of 48 in 2022 in sharp contrast with the 85.6 point average of the 27 years of the study.
Cost of living difficulties also represent the most widely felt problem issue for the year ahead, cited by 69% of consumers.
Commenting on the study results Suzanne McElligott, CEO, IAB Ireland, said, “2022 was a challenging year for the Irish and global economy with consumers and businesses faced with rising costs and increasing interest rates. Despite this difficult backdrop and the impact of increased regulation the Irish digital ad market continued to grow in 2022 to a high of €861m and 4% growth year on year.”
Finn O’Loughlin, Strategy Consulting Director, PwC, added: “While Social Display experienced almost flat growth in 2022 (0.2% YoY), it continues to be the dominant format within Display and at €376m holds a share of 73% of total Display adspend. Non Social Display grew by 8% (YoY) reflecting a positive performance for publishers with Video also achieving strong growth of 7% in 2022.”
Karen Preston, Chair of IAB Ireland’s Board and Chief Commercial Officer, Mediahuis said, “Following the very strong growth of digital advertising recorded annually by PwC since 2010, digital has now entered a more mature phase which is reflected in the slower pace of adspend growth in 2022. However further growth is predicted for 2023 with our adspend participants predicting an average 7% growth in the year ahead with Video and Digital Audio anticipated to be key growth drivers.”
Click on the image here to view the infographic:
You can view the full IAB Ireland PWC Online Adspend Report here.
Ends
For further information please contact: Maeve O’Meara, Marketing Manager, IAB Ireland, Tel: 086 852 2291 and Email: maeve@iabireland.ie
Important notes to editors:
- The IAB has been working with PwC since 1997 to survey the value of Online Adspend in Europe and North America.
- 20 leading publishers and 2 adnetworks/sales houses and 7 media buying ad agencies participated in the study, many of whom represent multiple websites. Other participants include advertising agencies.
- Participating publishers were selected on the basis of traffic data and market knowledge. We estimate that our study accounts for 90% of online adspend in Ireland. Reported figures are not adjusted to account for other organisations that have been included. Participation is on a voluntary basis.
- Total advertising revenue is reported on a gross basis (i.e. including commission). Figures and percentages are rounded. In some area advertising formats are not mutually exclusive – there is some overlap across specific formats.
- Adspend revenue is drawn up on the basis of actual figures provided by the study participants on a confidential basis to PwC. The study results are prepared by PwC based on the figures provided by participants, which have not been audited by PwC.
- Google, Meta (including Instagram), Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn do not publish their earnings from Irish advertisers. Instead PwC in conjunction with IAB created an independent estimate of their revenues from Irish advertisers and agencies, by extrapolating from spend data provided directly by a representative sample of their clients.
- RTÉ does not submit data to the IAB PwC Adspend Study. However, RTÉ’s digital adspend is deduced through a Freedom of Information request as well as discussions with Ireland’s leading advertising agencies.
- Programmatic advertising is the buying and selling of online advertising inventory through automated methods rather than human actions. This includes but is not limited to Real-Time Bidding (RTB).
About IAB Ireland
I
AB Ireland (www.iabireland.ie) is the trade association for the Irish online advertising industry. As a not-for-profit organisation IAB Ireland works with members to ensure marketers can identify the best role for online in building their brands. IAB Ireland is licensed by IAB US and is a member of the IAB Europe network. The IAB network shares three core objectives, namely to; prove, promote and protect the online advertising industry. These objectives are fulfilled through the dissemination of authoritative research, the organisation of educational events and by promoting industry-wide best practice.
About PwC
At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We’re a network of firms in 158 countries with over 250,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.
PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.