LONDON (Reuters) – Global advertising revenue will increase 9.5% in 2024 to surpass $1 trillion for the first time and grow 7.7% next year, according to GroupM, the world’s largest media buying agency, owned by WPP.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The continued growth of advertising, driven by digital platforms, has defied expectations of a slowdown. It accelerated once again in 2024, GroupM said in its 2024 Global End-of-Year Forecast, and it will maintain a faster rate of growth through 2029 than it predicted a year ago.
WHO IS BENEFITING?
Google, Meta, ByteDance, Amazon and Alibaba are expected to earn more than half of the revenue, with most coming from small- to medium- sized advertisers via their advertising platforms or from large advertisers purchasing directly, GroupM said.
POLITICAL ADVERTISING
The forecast excluded U.S. political advertising due to its large skewing effect on the data.
U.S. political ad revenue added $15.1 billion to the total this year — over 30% more than in the 2020 presidential election year.
THE MEDIA SPLIT
Digital advertising, the largest segment, is forecast to grow 10.0% in 2025, when it will account for 72.9% of total advertising. It will continue to outperform other media and will account for 76.8% of total revenue in 2029, according to the report.
Global TV advertising will grow by just 1.9% to $169.1 billion in 2025, with linear TV accounting for 72.6% of the total, it said.
Out-of-home advertising will grow by 7.1% in 2025, GroupM predicted, outperforming audio, which will be roughly flat, and print, which is forecast to decline 3%.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle, Editing by Louise Heavens)