Media advertising sales are expected to grow 6.3 percent this year to $179 billion, the strongest growth rate since 2010. Media forecast and strategy agency Magna Global, publishing its findings in its latest U.S. advertising revenue forecast, attributes the growth to strong ad sales during the first half of 2016.
Magna Global’s forecast pegs digital media ad sales growth this year at 15 percent and predicts the segment will expand an additional 12 percent in 2017. In contrast, its findings show traditional media ad sales slipping 1.5 percent in 2016 and point toward a further decline of 2.2 percent next year. The main drivers behind digital advertising’s growth are social media—up 44 percent to nearly $16 billion—and digital video—up 32 percent. Social video ads are expected to account for $2.2 billion this year, or 14 percent of total social media ad sales and 24 percent of digital video ad sales. Digital advertising’s growth is also entirely mobile-based. Mobile is up 45 percent this year, while Magna reports desktop-based impressions are stagnant, down 0.6 percent.
Digital advertising sales equal television ad spending for the first time this year, with both generating $68 billion for a market share of 38.5 percent. Magna Global expects digital ad sales to hit $105 billion by 2020, a 51-percent market share.
For more findings from Magna Global’s research, click here.
