Mobile formats push global advertising spend to half a trillion euro

Irish ad market growth outpacing the average rate in 2017, says eMarketer

Spending by advertisers on paid media will increase 7 per cent this year to $584 billion (€495 billion), according to the latest global forecasts from research company, eMarketer.

Investment in mobile ad formats is spurring growth in the overall market which will reach $757 billion (€641 billion) in 2021, eMarketer said, with annual worldwide growth rates ranging between 4.9 per cent and 8.3 per cent over the period.

The research firm said Ireland, alongside Argentina, China, India and Indonesia, would be among the countries to experience faster-than-average growth in advertising spending in 2017.

North America remains the biggest ad spending market for now, but its estimated growth of 5.2 per cent this year will be below the worldwide average of 7 per cent, mainly because North America is one of the more digitally mature regions in the world.

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Digital ad growth in India and China will drive rapid expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, which will surpass North America in total ad spend by 2019, according to eMarketer.

The impact of a growing advertising market in Ireland has not been evenly felt across all media. The rise in digital revenues has far outpaced those in traditional media such as television, which has been hurt by Brexit-related caution on the part of multinational household goods groups; and print, which is locked in structural decline.

Digital ad revenues in Ireland overtook television ad revenues to become the biggest category of advertising in 2015. In March, eMarketer, which is owned by German publisher Axel Springer, forecast that digital would account for more than half of the €850 million Irish market in 2017.

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics