A host of digital formats – including social media in-feed ads, paid content, online video and native advertising – are helping to fuel the growth in global advertising, according to the latest adspend forecasts from Zenith.
Between 2016 and 2019 Zenith said the ‘innovative’ digital ad formats will drive 14% annual growth in total display advertising – a category that still also includes traditional banner ads.
Total display expenditure will rise from US$84bn to US$126bn over this period, accounting for 64% of all the growth in global ad expenditure. By 2019 total display will account for 50.4% of internet advertising expenditure, exceeding 50% for the first time.
For the UK, Zenith forecasts total display to grow by 5% a year to 2019, when it will account for 37% of internet advertising expenditure.
Zenith said most of the growth is coming from social media (which will grow at 20% a year) and online video (which will grow at 21% a year).
“Internet display is coming into its own as a brand-building media, powered by social media and online video,” said Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting and director of global intelligence at Zenith.
“But the distinctions between online video and traditional television are being eroded, and the two work together much better than they do separately.”
Zenith forecasts that global advertising expenditure will grow 4% to US$558bn by the end of 2017. This is down fractionally from the forecast of 4.2% that it made in June.
The UK was the stand-out growth market in Western Europe from 2011 to 2016, growing at an average of 7.3% a year. However, a slowing economy, gathering inflation, and political uncertainty over the mid-year elections and Brexit negotiations have all contributed to a sharp slowdown in UK adspend this year.
Zenith now forecasts just 0.7% growth in UK adspend in 2017, down from the 0.9% growth it forecast in June.
