Paid advertising moving to online

Businesses are embracing the old adage, “‘if you can’t beat them, join them” when it comes to advertising on the internet, according to Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The digital age has now well and truly infiltrated the advertising sector, with the company predicting internet advertising will make up more than half of total paid advertising in Australia within five years.

In its annual PwC Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook report, the company projected local ad spend on media will reach $AU16 billion by 2019. Of this number, internet advertising in all of its forms is expected to represent $AU8.2 billion - making up 51 per cent of the total paid marketing spend.

Specifically, the report analyses total advertising market by individual media platforms. By doing so, it revealed digital ad revenue is likely to grow by 13 per cent in the next five years.

Other platforms will not fare so well, with free-to-air TV revenue growth predicted to flatline, growing just 1 per cent from AUS$3.79 to $3.835 billion. In comparison, pay TV will grow from 23.8 per cent to 37.4 per cent. Newspapers will continue decline, with revenue expected to fall 23.8 per cent and consumer magazines to fall 8.7 per cent.