• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, May 15, 2025

Local digital advertising topped $100 billion and accounted for roughly 70% of all local ad spending, according to an extensive report published by Borrell Associates.

The Annual Digital Benchmark Report estimates revenue for local digital advertising to accelerate by more than 13% by 2028.

This year it is estimated to grow 3.9%, and about 4% annually through 2028. Digital media is expected to gain share at the expense of print, broadcast, and cable media.

Search, display banners, streaming, and connected TV (CTV) dominated local digital budgets last year, with Borrell Associates estimating the combined sectors will hold 78% of digital and 57% of total local advertising within three years.

The adoption of TikTok, Reels, and other short-form videos will accelerate this change.

Google, as expected, dominated 2024 U.S. digital advertising revenue among the 47 companies Borrell Associates tracked.

Google search revenue reached $198.084 billion, followed by Meta’s Facebook at $55.770 billion, Amazon Ads at $45.700 billion, YouTube at $36.174 billion, and a combination of AdMob, AdSense, and Ad Manager at $30.359 billion. Those companies rounded out the top five on the list.

LinkedIn revenue exceeded Bing and Microsoft News Advertising -- with $15.145 vs. $12.208, respectively, according to the report.

When it comes to charting 2024 U.S. digital ad revenue growth, Instagram Reels topped all, with 113% of revenue growth in 2024 compared with 2023.

Amazon Ads revenue grew 20% for the year, compared with the prior.

Google appeared in the twenty-fourth position on the list with 13% growth for the year. Interestingly, AdMob, AdSense and Ad Manager came in at the bottom of the list with a negative growth rate of 3%, according to the report.

I usually do not go into such detail about the methodology, but it’s important to understand the massive amount of data the report pulls from.

Borrell Associates has conducted surveys on local and online advertising for 23 years and has published more than two dozen benchmarking reports.

This report analyzes data derived from media ad revenue of more than 9,000 local online operations in the U.S. and Canada -- data the company has collected since 2002.

The report also includes local business advertising expenditures from its database of local ad-spending estimates for every U.S. region, and survey of local ad buyers from semiannual surveys of local adverts and ad agencies.

The most recent survey, conducted in September through November 2024, and includes responses from 1,130 direct ad-buyers and 122 local agencies.

The company is making the analysis free to those who attend the its May 29, webinar.