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Advertisers are spending more money on the internet than on TV for the first time ever

Advertisers are spending more money on the internet than on TV for the first time ever

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Internet ads are as old of the internet itself, but broadcast television always remained the place advertisers spent most of their money — despite the millions and millions spending hours every day online. However, that balance has been upset for the first time: according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), internet ad revenues for 2013 hit $42.8 billion, surpassing broadcast TV ad revenues of $40.1 billion.

While ubiquitous search ads still makes up the largest piece of that spending, advertisers are increasingly targeting your smartphone. The IAB says that mobile ads revenue experienced triple-digit growth for the third year in a row — in 2013, it was up 110 percent compared to 2012, reaching just over $7 billion in revenue. That's only 17 percent of total internet ad spending, but in 2012 mobile ads only accounted for nine percent of the internet ad landscape — and given consumer reliance on their smartphones, that number is likely to continue growing in the years to come.