While some holdouts still believe digital is a passing fad, the latest digital advertising figures would seem to put such arguments to rest. In addition, the media consumption figures in the chart below add to the argument against digital pursuits being a flash in the pan.
As for digital advertising, 2017 was another record year, with revenue at $88 billion, up 21% vs 2016, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) said May 10 in a report PwC prepared for the Bureau.
Mobile was the dominant chunk at 60%, or $50 billion, up from $40 billion year over year. Video was strong, responsible for $7 billion of mobile’s total, a 50% jump vs 2016 figures, outdoing desktop video advertising ($5 billion) for the first time. Video advertising in both desktop and mobile formats grew a very healthy 30% year over year, the IAB report says.
Social Ad Spending Slightly Off
Social media advertising also surged, with its 5th straight double-digit rise, up 40% to $22 billion. There was a small surprise in search, which continued its dominance at $41 billion, up 20% from $35 billion in 2016, with 50% coming from mobile search. Still search as a format was off slightly. In 2016 search was responsible for 48% of digital ad revenue. In 2017 it was 46% of the digital ad revenue pie.
A caveat, the figures are slightly less than definitive since the report’s sources include a pastiche of data, including 10-K filings, financials and media reports. In addition it’s unclear what information the assumed dominant powers, Facebook and Google, provide to the survey.
In Print We Trust
A large question, of course, is whether or not advertising is present in places where the public spends its time consuming media. The Statista chart below shows advertisers seem to be spending wisely.
The chart compares IAB’s U.S. ad revenue figures with eMarketer’s media consumption estimates for 2017. As you can see, while digital pursuits were considerable, they still trail the dominant media, television, which captured 31% of ad revenue in 2017.
The exception, of course, is print, which consumed 3% of our time yet captured 17% of ad spending. This should change when/if digital advertising becomes more transparent.
