Online video advertising is already big. But how big will it be in a few years time?

2012 was a big year for advertising. The Olympic Games in London, the US presidential campaign and the EURO 2012 Football Championship all meant peaks in TV and online video viewing and therefore prime hotspots for advertisers. Online Video Ad revenue rose by 33% in 2012 up $1bn and it is predicted to reach $12bn by 2017, with an annual growth rate of 26% according to the recent study by PWC.

Of this $12bn, $9bn is expected to be spent in the US accounting for a whopping 75% of the global video ad spend. America has always been ahead of the rest of the world in terms of the uptake of new technology and generally establishes future global trends.

If we look at the 2012 Global TV Ad spend, we see that from the $350bn total only $64bn (18%) of this comes from the US. If online video advertising was to develop in the same way worldwide, we could predict the global video ad spend to grow to $50bn (based on the current $9bn spend in the US accounting for 18% in the future).

With high hopes in sight, it is up to online video creation tools, video platforms and measurement tools to help advertisers leverage the potential of online video advertising.