MUMBAI: At $9.6 billion, the first quarter 2013 digital ad revenues in the US hit landmark numbers, according to a survey conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC US as part of the ongoing IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report. The figure is a 15.6 per cent increase over the $8.3 billion figure reported in the first quarter of last year.

IAB president and CEO Randall Rothenberg said, "Consumers are turning to interactive media in droves to look for the latest information, to connect with their social networks, and simply to be entertained. This first quarter milestone clearly illustrates that marketers recognise that digital has become the go-to medium for all sorts of activities on all sorts of screens, at home, at the office and on-the-run."
 
IAB senior VP, research, analytics and measurement Sherrill Mane said, "Internet advertising revenue continues to exhibit double-digit growth, even as the business matures. This is an accomplishment that can be attributed to growing recognition by marketers that digital advertising is a critical part of all marketing in today‘s world."
 
PwC US partner David Silverman said, "These record-setting Q1 numbers are consistent with the continuing shift to digital and reflect the type of growth that the internet advertising arena has been seeing year-over-year".