Digital Ad Spending Growth Moderates After Pandemic Surge

Skai’s “Digital Marketing Quarterly Trends Report Q4 2021” shows the growth in Q4 of 2020 compared to 2021 was more of an anomaly than the norm. According to the report, paid search’s yearly growth rate decreased from 32% to 23% in the fourth quarter.

Last year’s holiday shopping season started early due to consumers’ fear of product shortages and delays in shipping because of supply-chain bottlenecks. Also, advertisers on Facebook and Instagram spread their spending across the purchasing funnel due to ad targeting and measurement privacy restrictions. Both contributing factors in the decline.