Brief:

• Mobile's share of the digital advertising market approached 50% in Europe during H1 2018, reaching €10 billion ($11.24 billion), although the European Union's recently enacted data-privacy law dampened growth, according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and researcher IHS Markit.
• The overall digital ad market grew 10% to €25.7 billion from a year earlier. Mobile formats received more than half of programmatic display ad spending, which relies on software to automate ad placements and boost efficiency, per the report.
• Display ad growth of 12.3% to more than €10 billion outpaced the 10.2% gain for search ad spending as video formats posted strong gains in the first half of the year. Video spending grew 27.9%, or more than four times the 6.6% growth for non-video display, and now accounts for 30% of the display segment.

Insight:

IAB Europe's latest report highlights several key trends in the region's digital ad market, which faces greater regulatory scrutiny since the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect in May. While GDPR led many advertisers to be more cautious in trying to avoid possible legal violations around user privacy, the general effect has been positive in helping to build consumer trust in digital advertising, Anton Kopytov, chairman of IAB Europe Research Committee, said in a statement. "We see recovery in the second half of 2018," he said.

GDPR changed programmatic strategies that at one point depended on third-party audience data for targeting. Many advertisers shifted their programmatic ad spending away from audience targeting and instead adopted more contextual targeting strategies or direct deals with publishers, Digiday reported in June. Some marketers have placed more ads on Google, which had purged its system from third-party tracking, making it harder to independently verify ad delivery. That move has made advertisers more dependent on Google's measurement systems to track their digital campaigns, per Digiday.

Around the globe, a tectonic shift in ad spending is taking place as audiences spend more time consuming content on mobile devices in lieu of traditional media like TV, radio and print, so it's only natural that ad dollars are following these audiences. Advertisers likely will benefit from this shift in viewing habits as more households cancel pay-TV subscriptions for streaming services. Livestreaming viewers are more likely to engage with ads included with their content, such as pre-roll video or sponsored ads, the IAB said. Livestreaming also helps viewers better remember the brands advertised, and makes it more likely for them to click on ads and visit brands' websites than paid content on TV or live programming, the association said.