Australia tops the list for digital ad spending per internet user in 2012.
Australian advertisers have spent more money per person this year than anywhere else in the world, spending $683 per person across all media to get their message out. Of that, $196 per internet user was spent on digital advertising alone. This was followed closely behind by the UK with $185 per user and America who only spent $155 per user having to opt for third from their usual first place
However, Australia as part of Asia-Pacific as a whole is not doing so well in comparison to other regions. Even though Asia-Pacific is already ahead of Western Europe in total media ad spending and will exceed them in digital ad spending for 2013, these amounts are only so large solely because of our high population figures.
Looking at eMarketer’s projections for spending per internet user in the table below, Asia-Pacific is way behind Western Europe and North America, and closer to less-developed regions.
According to eMarketer, in 2012, only $26 will be spent on digital ad spending per internet user in Asia-Pacific, compared to $152 per internet user in North America and $105 in Western Europe. China and India are dramatically dropping the regional average for Asia-Pacific. In 2013, spend per internet user in China will fall behind Indonesia, where internet users are highly engaged. Throughout the forecast period India will have the lowest per user spending.
Although total media spending has met a plateau in Australia with growth rates in the low single digits for the next few years, digital ad spending will maintain double-digit growth to 2014 as can be seen in eMarketer’s graph below. It is expected that in 2016, Australia will reach a whopping $4.5 billion in digital ad spending and online will account for more than one-quarter of ad spending across all medias.
Simply put, this means advertisers targeting customers in Australia will have to allocate more money toward reaching each individual in order to compete.
