For the first time ever, advertisers spent more on video ads than banner ads in the first half of a year, with video now accounting for 35 per cent of all digital ad spend.

The first half of 2017, according to a report from the IAB UK and PwC, saw advertisers spend £699m on video ads – a rise of 46 per cent year-on-year (YoY), making it the fastest growing ad format. Meanwhile, banner ad spend increased by under two per cent to £685m.

Within video advertising, spend on outstream/social in-feed is the most popular format, accounting for 52 per cent of video spend at £363m. It overtook pre- and post-roll ads which account for 44 per cent of spend at £309m.

“The time people spend watching online video has grown tremendously over the last few years, so it’s little wonder that video is now the fastest-growing ad format as advertisers look to tap into the changing way people consume content,” said Jon Mew, IAB UK CEO.

The report also found that display advertising, overall, grew 18 per cent to £2bn, with search growing 15 per cent to £2.8bn, and classifieds remaining at £692m. As a whole, digital ad spend grew 13.8 per cent to £5.56bn in H1 2017.

Furthermore, mobile now accounts for 43 per cent of digital advertising at £2.37bn – a YoY growth of 38 per cent, which sees it represent 57 per cent of display ad spend, 70 per cent of video and 83 per cent of social media spend. In itself, social media spend grew 42 per cent to £1.05bn, accounting for 53 per cent of the display ad market.

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