Dive Brief:
- EMarketer’s latest forecast for global ad spending this year sees an increase of 5.7%, lower than its previous prediction but still higher than last year’s increase of 5%. Total spending for 2016 is now expected to reach $542.55 billion.
- The lift is largely based on increased digital advertising spending as well as the U.S. presidential election and upcoming Summer Olympics.
- EMarketer decreased its worldwide ad spending estimates for every year from 2015 through 2020 based on what it described as “significant changes” to regional spending in Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
Dive Insight:
The advertising landscape has been quickly evolving, moving from traditional channels to digital and now to mobile. Last week in its annual internet advertising report, the IAB said ad revenues had seen a 20% surge in 2015, reaching $59.6 billion -- and attributed that growth to mobile. Despite economic uncertainty worldwide, the mobile category has continued to see a nice boost.
Another factor in the lowered ad spending increase cited by eMarketer is that “substantial changes to exchange rates have resulted in large devaluations of most major currencies against the U.S. dollar, thereby leading to numerous changes to media spend forecasts.”
Looking through 2020, ad spending increases will fluctuate between 5% and 6% each year, with the total eventually climbing to $674.24 billion in 2020. The U.S. is expected to hold the top regional spending spot throughout the forecast period.
Given that digital spending is driving the increases in ad spending overall, an earlier report from eMarketer that shows within the U.S. market mobile will constitute 63.4% of digital spending this year is a telling indication of where the market is headed.
