China Digital Ad Spend Beats Global Average

In 2011, the mainland’s digital ad spend exceeded that of print; a year later, the amount exceeded every other region as well as the global average digital ad spend – taking up more than 30% of the country’s advertising market.

Soon, it is expected to surpass TV spending, which, as of 2012, was only 3% higher, according to iClick’s latest research.

But these figures are of little surprise considering the current internet penetration is wavering at 40% in a nation of more than one billion people: the ad spend in the car industry, for example, grew by 18.5% month-on-month in February 2012, while the dairy product segment rose by 11.9% month-on-month in June 2012.

“The advent of the internet, a brand new medium, has completely transformed the landscape of the advertising industry. This has resulted in a multitude of both opportunities and also challenges for all businesses,” said Sammy Hsieh, CEO and co-founder of iClick.