Study: Global ad spending
By Derek Winkler
WARC Media has released a study predicting that global advertising spending will pass $1 trillion for the first time this year. This is due to a projected 10.7% increase in spending, or an additional $104 billion. The organization’s growth projections for the next two years are 7.6% and 7% respectively, resulting in a global advertising market worth $1.24 trillion by the end of 2026. Approximately 69% of this spending is with online-only companies such as Alphabet, Amazon and Meta, according to the study, with 23.5% of total spending going to social media services. The study is based on data from 100 international markets.
“Our latest forecast anticipates $104bn in incremental advertising spend worldwide this year, the largest rise in history if the post-pandemic recovery year of 2021 were discounted,” said James McDonald, director of data, intelligence and forecasting at WARC. “Whether this boom will sustain remains unclear. However, 2025 presents a sliding doors moment due to heightened regulatory pressures on Google and TikTok, together a quarter of the ad market outside of China. This, alongside an increasingly challenging geopolitical climate, may spell uncertain times ahead for the businesses that rely on advertising trade.”