U.K. Spent $12B On Digital Ads In 2015

Research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau U.K. and PWC shows U.K. advertisers spent a whopping £8.6 billion (about $12.2 billion) on digital ads last year, a 16.4% increase over the previous year. 

In comparison, eMarketer estimated U.S. digital ad spend would be $58.6 billion in 2015, and the IAB (U.S. version)  found that U.S. digital ad revenue soared 19% over the previous year to $27.5 billion during the first six months of 2015.

Back to the U.K.: Display ad spend rose 24.5% in 2015, with 60% of display now being traded programmatically, up from 47% in 2014. And PwC predicts programmatic will account for 80%-90% of display ad sales by 2019.

Dan Bunyan, senior manager, PwC, stated that there's been a shift in sales from networks to real-time-bidding exchanges, a shift from direct to programmatic direct, as well as a shift from open to private marketplaces. 

Which digital ad spend categories are growing the fastest in the U.K.? The chart to the left (courtesy of IAB U.K.) puts mobile in first place (with a jump of 60% year-over-year). In fact, mobile accounted for £2.6 billion ($3.7 billion) or 30.5% of digital advertising spend in 2015.

The research from the IAB U.K and PwC also found an uptick of 12% in Internet-connected devices per household in 2015. In descending order, connected TVs, smartphones, laptops and tablets saw an increase in ownership. 
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