Global Internet advertising spend closing in on TV as marketers continue to switch focus
Mobile advertising will lead the growth in advertising spend over the next three years as the internet continues to close the gap on TV as the most dominant medium for marketers, according to ZenithOptimedia’s latest global ad spend report.
Global advertising has been forecast to rise 4.2 per cent this year to US$531b, accelerating to five per cent in 2016 before slowing again in 2017 to 4.3 per cent.
In Australia, US$12.3bn is expected to be spent on advertising by 2017, up from $US$11.5bn in 2o14.
Mobile will more than double its global share by 2017, rising from 5.1 per cent of ad dollars spent in 2014 to almost 13 per cent, and will contribute 70 per cent of all additional spend over the next three years.
Overall, the internet, which already became dominant in seven markets last year, including Australia, will grow by an average of 15 per cent by 2017 and will capture a market share of around 33 per cent by 2017.
TV will slip from 39 per cent in 2014 to a little under 37 per cent in three years time, according to the report.
“Marketers are beginning to move budgets away from television to online video which we expect to grow from 2.1 per cent of global adspend in 2o14 to 4 per cent in 2017,” ZenithOptimedia said. “The audiovisual share of the market will therefore fall by only 0.4 percentage points from 41.2 per cent to 40.8 per cent in 2017.”
In contrast to the rapid rise of mobile advertising – which is forecast to climb by an average of 42 per cent over the next three years – desktop internet ad spend will grow by just 4.5 per cent per year. It will give desktop advertising a share of 19.4 per cent by 2o17, only marginally ahead of this year’s 19.4 per cent.
Online video will be the fastest growth digital category and is tipped to rise 29 per cent for each of the next three years following a 33 per cent increase in 2o14.
Paid search, meanwhile, is set to grow by an average of 12 per cent.
Cinema is forecast to be the fastest growing traditional media, rising four per cent per year, while print is projected to keep falling.
The report estimates that newspapers and magazines, whose shares of ad spend have fallen from 30 per cent and 13 per cent to 15 per cent and seven per cent respectively over the last decade, will shrink by an average of four per cent and three per cent.
ZenithOptimedia chief executive Steve King said: “The internet is quickly establishing itself as the dominant advertising medium, and on current trends will overtake television by the end of the decade.
“However, this refers only to traditional television viewed on TV sets. The amount of time viewers spend watching online video on their laptops, tablets and smartphones is increasing rapidly, and advertisers are shifting their budgets online to follow them.
“The spread of internet devices and new advertising technology will give advertisers new opportunities to communicate with and learn from consumers, and to do so more effectively than ever before.”
Steve Jones
