• by Wayne Friedman , February 20, 2019

Digital advertising will exceed traditional advertising in the U.S. this year, according to an eMarketer forecast -- growing 19% to $129.34 billion.

Traditional media spending -- including TV, newspapers, and radio -- will decline 5%. It will drop from $114.84 billion in 2018 to $109.48 billion in 2019. 

By 2021, digital advertising will grow to $172.29 billion, with traditional media slipping to $104.32 billion.

This year, digital will represent 54.2% of total U.S. ad spending, while traditional media will garner 45.8%.

Mobile will account for two-thirds of the digital total: $87.06 billion.

Google will command 37.2% of the business; Facebook,22.1%; Amazon, 8.8%; Microsoft Corp., (including LinkedIn), 3.8%; and Verizon, 2.9%. Rising 50% in revenues -- to $11 billion -- Amazon will see big share gains. It had a 6.8% total share of digital advertising spend a year ago.

TV will decline 2.2% to $70.83 billion, due to the absence of Olympics and political advertising from the elections of a year ago. TV’s results exclude digital media spending.

Print advertising will drop 17.8%, while radio is expected to sink 1.8%. Out-of-home will post the only gain in traditional media, up 1%.