• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, April 5, 2011

2010 was a blockbuster year for digital out-of-home media, according to official figures compiled by Miller, Kaplan, Arase and released by the Digital Place-based Advertising Association.

Total advertising revenues jumped 24.5% to $1.1 billion last year, according to the DPAA, which noted the huge improvement over 2009. Then, total revenues were basically flat with a mere 1% increase, due mostly to the broader economic downturn.

The 2010 increase made DO the fastest-growing medium in percentage terms, the DPAA claims -- beating out spot TV (24.2%), national spot radio (18.6%) and Internet advertising (9.9%), among others. The growth is especially noteworthy because -- unlike spot TV and radio -- DO is unlikely to have benefited much from political advertising for the 2010 midterm elections.

In short, the expansion probably reflects a long-term organic increase.

While the DPAA figures are retrospective, other organizations have produced equally optimistic forecasts for DO growth over the next few years. Most notably, PQ Media's "Global Digital Out-of-Home Media Forecast 2011-2015," released in February, said global DO revenues grew 16.3% from $5.56 billion in 2009 to $6.47 billion in 2010.

PQ Media expects them to grow another 16.9% in 2011, to $7.56 billion.

In the report, PQ Media distinguishes between two major categories within the DO marketplace: digital place-based networks, which typically display video content and advertising, and digital billboards, which display a mix of static and video-animated digital ads. Overall, the first category -- DPN -- saw global revenues increase 14.5% from $4.41 billion in 2009 to $5.06 billion in 2010; PQ Media expects global growth of 15.2% in 2011, to $5.83 billion.

Global digital billboard revenues grew 23.2% from $1.14 billion in 2009 to $1.41 billion in 2010, and are projected to grow another 23.1% in 2011 to about $1.74 billion.