Global ad spend has been steadily climbing for quite a long time now, largely driven by digital ads. According to a new forecast released by Magna Global, however, that may change in 2017. The group predicts that we will see a slowdown to just 3.6% spending growth in the coming year, which is significantly less than the 5.7% growth that is expected for 2016. In the United States the prediction is just 1.7% growth, down from 6.9%, which is even more significant.
While the report is still predicting growth, this slowdown is certainly going to be a concern for many. It may be an indication that digital advertising is starting to level out, and that the ad industry will soon become a steady market rather than a strong growth market. Of course, there are many factors that contribute to this type of slowdown. Economic slowdowns in general lead companies to invest less money in advertising, for example, and the global economy is certainly not strong.
It is important to note that this report is regarding the ad industry as a whole, and not just digital ads. Of all the categories, digital ads are actually still showing the strongest performance, though some people believe it is starting to peak. The report did find that digital ads may pass TV ad spending in 2017. This would be largely thanks to the strong mobile ad industry, which is generating about 72% of ad budgets at this time.
While a slowdown like this is never good news, this certainly isn’t the end of the world or a cause for concern. It is always good to keep up to date with the latest information regarding the growth of the industry.
