E-commerce advertising to grow 30 times faster than wider online ad market this year

An overview of global e-commerce advertising spend since 2014.

Alibaba and Amazon are the world's third- and fourth-largest advertising businesses following a surge in brand's trying to capture online shoppers, according to the latest Global Advertising Trends report from WARC Data.

Brands are expected to spend $58.5bn this year advertising across e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Tmall, omnichannel retailers like Walmart and Carrefour and social commerce on platforms such as Pinduoduo and TikTok.

This represents year-on-year growth of 18.3%, a rate of growth 30 times faster than the wider online ad market and in stark contrast to an expected 8.1% decline in total ad investment.

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