Search Engines and Digital Video Bolster Online Ad Spend

Spend on search engine ads as well as digital video ads is projected to grow by more than 50 percent over the next four years, according to the Statista Advertising and Media Outlook. Despite already being the biggest digital ad segment in the outlook, placing ads tailored to people’s online searches is still poised for growth because of its direct access to customers who are looking to make a purchasing decision. Digital video did not attract the same level of spending yet, but it is also growing rapidly as traditional TV ads continue to decline.

Print ads showed one of the lowest spends in the report while also still displaying one of the fastest declines. Social media ads were also growing substantially, with an almost 45 percent spending increase expected until 2025. Banner ads, the dinosaur among online advertising formats, were still the second largest spending segment, but are growing much slower, poised to be overtaken by spending on social media ads before the end of the decade.

Not included in the chart are audio ads, a $14 billion market still dominated by stagnating traditional radio ads, and the smaller out-of-home ad market ($9 billion pre-COVID).