IAB Canada was pleased to release the 2023 Internet Ad Revenue Survey report this week. The digital advertising industry experienced a year that could best be described as unpredictable. A strong start in the first quarter showed recovery momentum from the Covid-19 pandemic. Emerging categories like CTV, Audio and Retail Media showed strong growth and innovation, while other channels performed as expected. 

By Q2 of 2022, IAB Canada members were reporting slowed growth expectations and the industry at large adjusted investment strategies in the face of market uncertainty. Budget shifts towards the more tightly controlled performance media channels like search and social are evident in our reporting.  

As in prior years, category reporting in our survey reflects the national advertiser expenditure via media agency reporting and does not fully capture the long tail of online advertising which has been adopted as the most important channel for small to medium sized businesses across Canada and accounts for upwards forty percent of media investment in the country.  

Our industry faces several headwinds in the coming months. All stakeholders must turn their attention to compliance with increased regulations and invest in addressability strategies as the 2024 cookie deprecation deadline draws nearer. We also continue to monitor market instability caused by several factors including the elevated Consumer Price Index, continued supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine. Attracting and maintaining customer attention is becoming more challenging and loyalty is not guaranteed in a volatile economy. 

The good news is that these factors are positive indicators for digital advertising. Always-on strategies to keep customers’ attention coupled with assertive challenger brand activity bodes well for media. Moreover, advertisers are shifting their demand towards higher value inventory that meets several new areas of a focus including privacy preserving, environmentally acceptable and attention-driving. Digital media is by nature innovative, adaptive, and ready to deliver. For these reasons, we remain optimistic for the year ahead. 

We would like to thank IAB Canada members who participated in the survey and look forward to engaging in further discussions as we size up an industry that is in major transition.