Digital MarketingDigital AdvertisingUS digital ad spend up 18% YoY, new IAB report says

US digital ad spend up 18% YoY, new IAB report says

Digital ad spend in the US reached $28.4 billion in Q1 of 2019, up from $23.9 billion in Q1 of last year. Retail accounts for nearly 22% of that spend.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released a new Internet Advertising Revenue Report this morning, conducted in partnership with PwC. The report revealed that digital ad spend in the US reached $28.4 billion in Q1 of 2019. This is up 18% YoY from Q1 of last year, which hit $23.9 billion.

In the graph below, we see the growth of US digital ad spend in the first quarter of each year from 2015 to 2019.

growth in digital ad spend from 2015 to Q1 2019

Commenting on the report, David Silverman, Partner at PwC US said:

“These historic Q1 figures are in keeping with digital’s ongoing rise. Its diverse platforms are attracting audiences to share, shop, listen, learn, and be entertained. Brand dollars are naturally following mainstream consumer consumption.”

Where is all this digital ad spend going?

A separate survey from May/June of 2019 found that paid search largely dominates the digital ad landscape, comprising nearly 40% of budgets.

In second place comes paid social, at just under 20% of budgets. Other channels included display, YouTube, mobile/in-app, Amazon, and other ecommerce.

Which industries have the highest digital ad spend?

eMarketer recently released interesting findings on digital ad spend by industry.

In the graph below, we see retail with the highest spend at 21.9% of the total share. Automotive and financial services come in second and third, both at just over 12%.

digital ad spend share in the US by industry in 2019

eMarketer also added that they expect that in 2020, “financial services will displace the auto sector, while travel will surpass consumer packaged goods (CPG).”

They attribute part of the growth of the travel sector’s ad budgets to brands’ increasing need to fight for consumer attention.

Notably, they say that the travel sector’s mobile ad spend surpasses that of any other industry: 70.1% of its total digital ad budget.

Whitepapers

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Whitepaper | Mobile US Mobile Streaming Behavior

5y

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...

View resource
Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

Whitepaper | Analyzing Customer Data Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

5y

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics f...

Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...

View resource
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people

Whitepaper | Digital Marketing Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people

1y

Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...

This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...

View resource
The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

Whitepaper | Digital Transformation The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

2m

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

The Merkle B2B 2023 Superpowers Index outlines what drives competitive advantage within the business culture and subcultures that are critical to succ...

View resource