Australians will spend more time on online media and slightly less time on traditional media this year, GroupM’s State of Digital report predicts.
Meanwhile, the amount of online display investment that will be transacted programmatically is tipped for a sharp rise to nearly 50%, while online video continues to grow its share of the display investment pie.
Australian consumers with spend slightly more time on media each day, up to 7.9 hours from 7.86 hours in 2017. Australians consume much less media per day than the global average, which is 9.73 hours.
The only medium that to experience growth is online, which is forecast to rise to 3.05 hours per day this year, compared to 2.9 hours in 2017.
Time spent on TV is tipped to fall to 2.5 hours per day this year, down from 2.53 hours last year.
Radio is predicted to drop from 2.04 hours to exactly two hours per day, while time spent on print will fall from 0.39 hours to 0.35 hours.
GroupM’s forecasts means that online will have a 39% share of time spent, followed by TV (32%), radio (25%) and print (4%).
Globally, online’s share is 38% to TV’s 37% – the first time online has trumped television.
While time spent with online media is tipped to grow, so too is the volume of online media that is transacted programmatically.
In 2016, 20% of online display was transacted programmatically, which grew to 35% last year and is forecast to rise to 48% in 2018.
The proportion of online display investment in video is also tipped for a shar rise from 30% last year to 35% this year.
Smart speaker penetration is poised to double from 5% of households in 2017 to 10% this year.
Other key findings
Digital video competition: Legacy TV players are believed to hold three-fourths of all video hours but less than a third (29%) online video hours.
In-housing: Respondents said this is more often talked about than done, but several countries reported hybrid arrangements – typically, clients taking on strategy but leaving execution to agencies. Most in-housing involved the biggest clients doing the simplest programmatic functions.
Price inflation: Respondents cited two inflation drivers: high demand for premium, brand-safe content and poor measurement of OTT and mobile platforms; the scarcity of measurable inventory drives up prices.
The duopoly: Google and Facebook continue to be the key growth drivers. Google search is critical to clients, and YouTube is increasingly important for scaled, “premium” video. Concerns over the quality of programmatic inventory in the Google Display Network persist, but remedies are being pursued.
Facebook’s success is partly due to the delivery of younger audiences via Instagram. The surge in large-advertiser investment in 2016-2017 also helped double Facebook’s share of digital investment ex-China.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.