Video advertising has become the fastest-growing ad format over the last year, a new report has revealed.

According to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), £699 million was spent on video ads in the first half of 2017.

This is 46 per cent higher than the amount recorded a year earlier.

Banner ads were another popular format between January and June this year, with spending on this option reaching £685 million.

However, the rate of growth was a relatively modest two per cent.

The findings mean video is now the fastest-growing advertising format. Furthermore, the recent surge means it now accounts for more than a third of all display advertising investment.

Commenting on the findings, Jon Mew of the IAB, said the amount of time people spend watching online video has “grown tremendously” over the last few years.

As a result, she believes it is “little wonder” that the video is now the fastest-growing ad format, as advertisers are looking to “tap into the changing way people consume content”.

The overall display advertising market grew by almost one-fifth between January and June to £2 billion.

Meanwhile, there was a 15 per cent upturn in search advertising, with this format attracting £2.8 billion of investment.

However, investment in classified ads remained broadly unchanged at £692 million.

Overall digital ad spend went up by 13.8 per cent to £5.6 billion between January and June.

Online video ad spend nearly doubles in a year to overtake banner ads for first time The Drum