MIRRORING WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

to embrace these means to communicate with them,” it stated. “Digital advertising is also an efficient way to reach specific audiences with messages tailored to questions relevant to them.”

Overall spending by the agency of record, Cossette Media, was stable at $30.6 million, up from $30.3 million. The government purchased an additional $5.5 million directly from media outlets for total advertising of $36.1 million.

For internet advertising, the feds spent about $7.6 million on online display ads, $7 million on social media and $2.1 million on search engine marketing.

Social media spending was split between Facebook at $4.6 million, Twitter at $1.9 million and LinkedIn at $500,000, according to a department spokesperson.

The department would not provide an exact financial breakdown for the other categories, citing commercially sensitive negotiated rates. It did, however, provide a list of where it spent the money.

For search, it bought ads with Google and Yahoo. For display, the pot was split between 70 sources including job search websites; tech giants Google and Spotify; major broadcasters Bell Media, Corus, CBC and APTN; newspapers including Postmedia, the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star; and smaller organizations including the Manitoba Moose Hockey Club, Quebec Yachting and the Niagara on the Lake Chamber of Commerce.

Kaan Yigit, president of Solutions Research Group Consultants, said the government’s shift is “par for the course” in the advertising industry. Bell and Corus both reported softer TV advertising revenue in their most recent results, he noted.