Australia’s spending on online search advertising continues to grow, increasing by 17 per cent from June 2013 to June 2014.
The latest Frost & Sullivan Australian Online Search and Directories Market Report 2014 revealed that, while the online search adverting market saw quite an increase in spending, revenue in the online directory market increased by only 2 per cent from June 2013 to June 2014. This marks a reduction on the 4 per cent annual growth seen in the year prior.
The 17 per cent rise in spending was also a reduction, a dip on the 23 per cent growth achieved in the 12 months prior. Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI), Travel and Consumer Electronics were found to have reduced their expenditure on online search advertising.
The Frost & Sullivan report forecasts Australia’s spending on online search marketing will continue to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12 per cent between 2014 and 2019, with an expected reach of $3,525 million.
Phil Harpur, Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Manager, Australia & New Zealand ICT Practice, said the online search advertising market is being boosted by strong growth in the mobile search sector.
“Mobile search advertising continues to grow strongly, as consumers increasingly browse and research on smartphones and tablets. Smartphone’s with GPS technology can narrow a search to businesses within a reasonable distance of the user’s current location. Online directories like Yellow Pages are seeing strong growth on mobile platforms,” Mr Harpur said.
“Deep linking technology now enables in-app searching. Links can recognise what device an individual is using, and if it is a mobile device, what apps are installed. This is likely to stimulate much stronger adoption of mobile search advertising.”
