The graph shows the share of U.S. advertising expenditure in 2018, by medium. Print was projected to account for 7.5 percent of total media owners' net ad revenues in 2018.
Advertising spending in the United States – additional information
The U.S. is the largest advertising market worldwide. In 2015, total advertising spend in the U.S. amounted to just over 182 billion U.S. dollars. Ad spending in the country is forecast to pass the 220 billion U.S. dollars mark for the first time in 2018. Second-ranked China spent nearly 74 billion U.S. dollars in advertising in 2015, a significantly smaller share in comparison to the U.S.
Television still remains the main medium for advertisers in the U.S. About 80.3 billion U.S. dollars was estimated to be invested in television advertising in the U.S. in 2016. National TV (excluding political and Olympics) accounted for nearly a quarter of all advertising expenditure in the U.S. in 2015. The medium is forecast to maintain a similar share in 2017. Local TV’s share stood at around 12 percent in 2015, and is forecast to slightly drop to 11 percent by 2017.
Although television is still the main medium in the advertising market in the U.S., digital has seen unprecedented growth in the last few years and is expected to take the lead in the industry by 2017. Digital advertising spending in the U.S. is estimated to increase from about 72 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 to just over 113 billion U.S. dollars by 2020. Digital search is one of the main formats of digital advertising in the U.S., accounting for 17.4 percent of the U.S. ad expenditure in 2015. By 2017, this figure is forecast to rise to 20.7 percent. Another key trend is the rise of mobile platforms in the advertising industry in the U.S. Mobile is projected to increase its market share of ad spend from 12.1 percent in 2015 to 21.5 percent by 2017.
