• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, October 12, 2012

Video played its part in driving up Internet ad revenue so far this year, according to figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Digital video rose 18% in ad spend year over year for the first half of 2012, hitting more than $1 billion in revenue during that time, compared to nearly $900 million for the same six-month period last year.

For its purposes, IAB categorizes digital video as part of display advertising. IAB’s figures are particularly useful to marketers because they are based on actual money that’s already been spent, rather than what’s expected to be spent.

But predictions are useful too for agencies and marketers. Here are a few handy figures on projected digital video ad spend.

Also this week, Forrester said online video ad spending  would grow from about $2.9 billion this year to $9 billion by 2017, for a 26% growth rate each year.

Last week, media shop Zenith Optimedia said online video should rise 29%  this year and another 29% next year.

Meanwhile, eMarketer has said that for all of 2012 digital video should reach $3 billion, a 40% rise over last year.