Online advertising revenue in the U.S. from 2000 to 2018

Statistic | Online advertising revenue in the United States grew by 21.8 percent in 2018 compared to 2017, from 88 billion to 107 billion U.S dollars. This is the first time the figure has surpassed 100 billion dollars, owing to the emergence of new channels and formats including virtual and augmented reality, podcasts and OTT content as well as strong growth from existing channels such as mobile.

Online advertising at a glance

  Search is dominating the internet advertising scene among the remaining formats in the United States, with a 45 percent share. Banner follows, accounting for 31 percent of ad revenues, and 15 percent is attributed to digital video ads. The largest revenue share came from the performance-based pricing model, where buyers pay for quantifiable user reactions to online advertising. Cost per click, sales and leads are a few examples of such reactions. Close to 62 percent of online ad revenue is generated via this type of pricing model, while 35 percent were priced based on cost-per-mille.

Consumer attitudes to online ads

  In an early 2018 survey it was found that less than 20 percent of U.S. adults admitted to liking online ads be it on websites or in video clips, and the majority said they disliked online advertising in general. Unsurprisingly, younger generations in the United States find internet ads more relevant today than they did two years prior. This is especially true for the 57 percent of Millennials who noticed a positive change, with only 10 percent saying they thought online ads had become less relatable. Conversely, ten percent of seniors in the country thought internet advertising had become more relevant to their needs in the last two years.