Smartphone adspend hits new milestone

Adspend on smartphones has exceeded desktop for the first time, according to the latest IAB and PwC figures, published today.

Mobile screens now account for 51% of total online spend, up from 45% in 2017. This is a year-on-year increase of £1.65bn, totalling £6.88bn.

Meanwhile, UK advertisers spent a total of £13.44bn on online advertising in 2018, a 15% year-on-year increase.

Video, which accounts for 44 percent of the total display market, is helping to drive the growth thanks to adoption of newer formats such as outstream ads – which autoplay within text or social content.

However, other ad formats have also recorded double digital growth, with banner ads accounting for 28% of the market (£1.5bn), native ads 23% (£1.2bn) and sponsored content 3% (£163m).

“UKOM data shows that people spend about two-thirds of their time online on a mobile device, so the fact that advertisers are now spending more than half of their digital budgets on smartphones shows that brands are now making the most of that opportunity,” Tim Elkington, chief digital officer, IAB UK, told Mediatel.

“Seeing mobile now account for over half of all digital adspend is a significant milestone,” he said.

Correction: this article was updated at 8:50am 24.04.2019. The original incorrectly stated mobile screens now account for 51% of total online spend, up from 4% in 2017. The correct figure is 45%, not 4%.