Global spending on internet advertising 2000-2024, by region

Internet advertising spending has been increasing worldwide for the past two decades, albeit at vastly different speeds. While North America maintains the top digital ad market globally, with spending set to surpass 222 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, other regions such as Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa are trailing behind.

The North American digital advertising landscape

North America is known as the trailblazer of the global advertising scene, thanks to the strong performance and ongoing industry innovations in the United States. For many years, the U.S. has maintained its top spot as among the world’s largest ad markets, with spending exceeding 285 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 alone. Even though the industry saw investments and revenues plummet in the first year of the pandemic, digital advertising activities were not impacted nearly as much as their offline counterparts thanks to the unprecedented boost in digital consumption.

What are digital advertisers spending their money on?

In 2021, digital advertising spending worldwide amounted to an estimated 455 billion U.S. dollars, up from around 355 billion just two years prior. Advertisers are digging deeper into their pockets than ever to catch the attention of their digitally savvy customers, but on which channels and technologies are they placing their bets? In 2021, search and social media were among the most invested-in digital ad formats globally, drawing between 145 billion and 149 billion U.S. dollars in digital ad budgets each. Meanwhile, mobile ad expenditures are also reaching new heights as millions of online users access and browse the web on their mobile devices every day.