TV triumphs over withering paper ads
A decline in traditional ad spending in Spain was particularly clear in newspaper advertising. Between 2011 and 2021, newspaper ad revenue dropped from one billion euros to less than 350 million. Magazine advertising has also been contracting. In contrast, traditional broadcast advertising still maintained a sizeable market share. Television has been the most profitable standalone advertising medium, with TV ad spending projected to return to pre-pandemic values starting 2024.
Digital holds on to number one spot
2020 marked the year in which digital outranked television in becoming the largest advertising shareholder in the country. Like television, digital ad spending was also projected to rebound to pre-pandemic values in 2022, before proceeding to grow to more than 3.5 billion euros before 2025. Paid search internet was the only digital format that did not experience a contraction during the pandemic. Automotive was the top digital advertising industry sector, followed by retail.
Spaniards love their TV, block their online ads
Given the favored role of media such as television in Spain, it comes as no surprise that traditional media was the most trusted source of information of Spaniards, ranking ahead of search engines. In a survey about advertising attitudes, more than half of respondents said they did not mind ads if they got free content in return. Another four out of 10 consumers said they were often annoyed by internet ads – a value that goes hand in hand with the frequency of ad blocker usage in the country. Advertising annoyance notwithstanding, more than six out of 10 Spaniards agreed that internet ads were increasingly being targeted towards their tastes or needs.
