Another Record Quarter For U.S. Digital Advertising Comes and Goes

The U.S. has just seen another record quarter for online advertising spending. In the third quarter, U.S. digital advertising revenues inched upwards to $15 billion, slightly up from the $14.3 billion in revenues seen in the previous quarter.

That’s a 5% increase since quarter two, but a 23% year-over-year increase. Overall, online ad spending has been surging since the end of 2009. In that time, revenues have more than doubled.

The new data comes from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which tracks online ad spending. Online advertisements include banner advertisements on websites, Pay Per Click advertising on search engines, social media ads, and video ad campaigns.

“Brands and agencies are focusing ever more attention on interactive screens, following consumers as they flock to digital platforms to be entertained, engaged and informed,” said Sherrill Mane, a senior vice president with the IAB.

If trends continue, and all signs point to yes, then U.S. digital advertising revenue will soon reach another major milestone in the next year or two. This December, the New York Times declared that, “Digital Ad Spending Expected to Soon Surpass TV.” Fortune’s editorial board agreed, except the magazine used the words “Very Soon” instead.

While Facebook PPC ads and video ads are growing fast, search remains the dominant form of online advertising, mostly in the form of PPC ads on Google’s AdWords platform.

The growing importance of online advertising wasn’t the only major development in the digital marketing realm in 2015. As the year draws to a close, Ad Age counted down the 10 best emoji-based advertisements of the year, a relatively new medium for advertisers.

Domino’s Pizza topped that list with its order a pizza with an emoji campaign, while “Star Wars” received special attention for a more recent Twitter campaign. When fans tweeted certain hashtags like #BB8 or #Stormtrooper, custom emojis would display on the screen.