TV is still thriving
A decline in traditional ad spending in Spain was particularly clear in newspaper advertising. Between 2011 and 2022, 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. Digital succeeded in rebounding to pre-pandemic values in 2022 and is expected to pass the five-billion-euro mark by 2025. Search internet was the leading digital ad format, followed by social media and display. Institutions made up the top digital advertising industry sector, followed by automotive. As of 2022, Spain was the fifth largest market in Europe for social media ad spending.
Spaniards love their TV, dislike their targeted social media ads
Given the favored role of media such as television in Spain, it comes as no surprise that traditional media channels were the most trusted source of information of Spaniards, ranking ahead of search engines. In addition to that, word of mouth recommendations from friends and family trumped other methods when it came to the leading ways Spaniards learned about new brands. In a survey about advertising attitudes, 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. Personalized social media ads have some work to do in winning the hearts of Spaniards, with more than four out of 10 saying they disliked them.
