Digital Advertising uses the internet to deliver marketing messages in various formats to internet users. This includes advertisements in results pages of search engines (Search Advertising); advertising in social media networks in the form of, for instance, sponsored posts (Social Media Advertising); advertisement banners like e.g. so-called skyscrapers (Banner Advertising); advertisements within video players (Video Advertising); and paid digital classifieds (Classifieds).

Comparing the three major Digital Advertising markets - the U.S., China, and Europe - the U.S. was the biggest market in 2021 with US$186.3 billion. Thus, the U.S. accounts for more than one third of the world’s Digital Advertising spending, leaving China und Europe far behind with shares of respectively only 21.1% and 19.6%.

When taking growth rates into account, the U.S. leads the race with a CAGR1 of 11,9% by 2025 among the three major regions, closely followed by China with 11.8% and the European market with 10.3%.

Due to a lasting trend towards mobile apps, the future development of Digital Advertising will continuously be shaped by a shift from desktop to mobile. While the share of global mobile revenues was 48.3% in 2021, the expected share in 2025 will be 61.6%. The most affected segment will be Video Advertising. Here, we expect a shift in shares of around 12.9% leading to a mobile share of 78.8% in 2025. However, the segment with the highest mobile share in 2025 will be Social Media Advertising.

Key takeaways
▪ Search Advertising
− Largest Digital Advertising segment in 2021, with revenues of US$194.8 billion worldwide
− Accounting for 42.5% of the worldwide Digital Advertising market
▪ Banner Advertising
− Like in Search Advertising, revenues in Banner Advertising are still mainly fueled by desktop spending (more than 54% in 2021)
▪ Video Advertising
− Fastest-growing segment with a CAGR1 of 16.5% by 2025
▪ Classifieds
− Smallest segment with a worldwide share of only 4.3%
▪ Social Media Advertising
− Second largest Digital Advertising segment in 2021, with revenues of US$138.2 billion worldwide
− Second fastest-growing segment with a CAGR1 of 15.4% by 2025