Digital advertising in the US jumped 35% to $US189 billion in 2021, according to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, conducted by PwC.
It was the highest increase since 2006; a jump of $50 billion in a single year.
All major channels increased significantly compared with a year ago, particularly across digital video (including CTV/OTT), digital audio, social media, and search.
"We fully expected 2021 to be an exceptional year for digital ad growth, but even we were surprised at the degree of acceleration. Not only was every single digital channel up, but some were up more than 50% year on year," says Libby Morgan, SVP, IAB.
"This year's increase is 3x what it was last year."
Streaming media is significantly outpacing the overall industry in growth.
- Digital video continues to be one of the fastest growing channels, up 50.8% compared to last year, with total revenues of $39.5B.
- Digital audio captured the highest growth, up 57.9% to $4.9B.
- Social media advertising was up 39.3% to $57.7 billion, as consumers continue to engage with Meta platforms, Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitter.
- While search revenue grew substantially (32.8%) in 2021, it did not grow as strong as other areas, leading to a slight decrease in total revenue share (reduction of 0.8 percentage points).
Looking ahead to the rest of 2022, IAB and PwC forecast continued digital ad growth, driven by significant innovation in retail media, CTV/OTT, gaming, and digital audio.
The continued rise of AR/VR, the metaverse, and Web3 technologies is expected to spark innovation — and continue to drive ad revenue in the years ahead.
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