Singapore’s online advertising revenue jumps 48.3% to S$95.5m in 2010

It was led by the local search advertising industry, which grew an amazing 112% in 24 months.

The IAB Singapore has released the full year revenue report for 2010. It reveals total revenue for 2010 is S$95.5m, reflecting year on year growth of 48.3%.

The total revenue figures point toward strong share growth during a period of flourishing conditions for the advertising industry.

Total online advertising revenue in Singapore is still relatively small but enjoying accelerated growth. This suggests the Singapore market is only around a quarter the size of New Zealand’s. It would be reasonable to assume that some considerable room for growth remains. The IAB anticipates a plateau at around S$500m annually.

Over the three full-year periods of the study we saw a CAGR of 36%. Local advertisers view online as increasingly important and are embracing interactive advertising with ever larger proportions of their advertising budgets.

“The digital advertising sector in Singapore has been registering impressive growth. According to the 2010 IAB online advertising revenue report conducted in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers, total online advertising revenue in Singapore has grown from S$51.3 million in 2008 to S$95.5 million last year,” says Michael Yap, Deputy CEO, Media Development Authority, Singapore.

The report cited a number of factors for the industry’s dynamic growth. This includes considerable investment from existing local and multinational operators, which has seen a steady increase in several energetic new companies to the marketplace. Local search advertising industry, which recorded an amazing 112 percent CAGR over the 24-months period ended 31 December, 2010, also continues to drive the growth of interactive advertising.

However, search advertising spend remains under-represented and claims only 37 percent share of the overall revenue for full year 2010, compared with 40 to 50 percent in more developed markets. Display advertising likewise holds majority share of interactive advertising. It remains one of the most cost effective and impactful ways to engage with consumers, and with the growth of advertising exchanges and the emergence of Demand and Supply Side Platforms, this is expected to be an exciting area to watch in the coming 18 to 24 months.

Online is proving itself a winning medium. With the developing economic recovery, we look forward to even better results in 2011.