Figures from advertising research service WARC’s global advertising spend outlook 2024/25 report predicted a worldwide rise in advertising spend of 10.5%, powered by the large North American market’s growth of 8.6% – almost half of which is due to the US election.
Europe’s advertising spend is forecast to increase by 5%, with retail media, social media, and online/subscriber television (CTV) among the fastest-growing segments.
The projections, taken from companies spread over more than 100 countries, have predicted that ‘pureplay’ – that is, online-only – advertising firms are set to record a 14% increase in advertising revenues this year, with Meta, Amazon and Alphabet reaping the lion’s share of any increase in spend.
James McDonald, director of data, intelligence and forecasting at WARC, explained that the global ad market has doubled in size over the last decade, with 2024/25’s dominance by tech giants a continuation of a trend that has seen the big three firms attract seven in every 10 incremental ad dollars over the past 10 years.
He added: “With retail media expected to lead ad spend growth over the coming years, and with new, diverse players emerging in ad selling – from Uber to Chase – we are once again seeing the value of first party data in targeting the right person with the right message at the right time. Such data, combined with new AI enhancements, will constitute the fabric of the advertising industry for the next decade and beyond.”
Speaking to Printweek, he added that 2024 had also provided a bumper year for traditional outputs thanks to its busy calendar of events.
He said: “The main reasons for global growth this year are a better performance for legacy media due to major sporting events, as well as a bumper US presidential cycle.
“Beyond this, the main online platforms are beginning to reap the benefits of new AI-enabled media buying tools, as well as ongoing investment from Chinese brands seeking to reach international customers as domestic demand softens.
"There is still a place for print advertising and the quality journalism it serves, but it is an ever decreasing part of the media mix and many legacy newsbrands have diversified their revenue streams to the point where print is often the smaller portion."
