European digital ad spend up 6.3% in 2020 | WARC | The Feed

European digital ad spend up 6.3% in 2020

Digital advertising came back strongly in Europe in the second half of 2020, increasing 6.3% across the full year to reach a total of €69.4bn, according to IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark 2020 study.

Digital advertising’s share of the overall European media market has accelerated and now stands at 56.5%, a consequence of changing consumer habits occasioned by lockdowns and a shift to online shopping.

Headline figures

• Region: Twenty-four of the 28 markets covered in the report, a meta-analysis of local IAB figures, posted growth, including double-digit growth in Turkey, Ukraine, Serbia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Germany. Negative growth was seen in in Belgium, Belarus and Spain.
  
• Format: Display rose 9.1% to €31.8bn, divided between social (+15.9% to €16.1bn) and other display (+2.9% to €15.6bn). Within display, there is an overall shift away from banners and static formats (-1.1% to €9.9bn) and towards video (+10.1% to €5.2bn); a similar trend is apparent within social ad spend – and one that is expected to accelerate as social becomes shoppable. Audio, meanwhile, is growing fast from a low base (+6.7% to €0.5bn).
  
  Search increased 7.9% to €30.3bn. Eastern European markets are growing fastest, but in general lockdowns have muted search performance as budgets have shifted to social.
  
  Classified & directories shrank 9.1% to €7.4bn, with most markets were decline, thanks to a combination of a weak labour market and high household savings. But a fast rebound is predicted as economies reopen.

• Device: In both display (66.6%) and search (54.5%), the market is mobile-first and that trend is expected to continue.

Key quote

“The consumption changes we’ve been seeing are not temporary, but they’re often structural and this means it’s a fantastic opportunity for digital to continue to grow and to continue to capture eyeballs, drive people to store, and so forth” – Daniel Knapp, chief economist at IAB Europe.

Sourced from IAB Europe