Within four years, internet advertising will surpass television advertising to become the largest advertising segment globally. That news comes from PWC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2014-2018.
By 2018, internet advertising revenue is expected to hit $194.5 billion. Paid search advertising will hold the majority of the internet advertising market share, but the most growth will happen in online video advertising. Furthermore, online television advertising revenue from traditional broadcasters will nearly triple from $2.7 billion last year to $9.7 billion in 2018. In fact, online television advertising’s share of total television advertising revenue will double in the next five years.
Another segment that will lose its dominance in global advertising revenue is classifieds. In 2014, mobile advertising will surpass classified advertising.
The U.K. Outlook
The PWC report provides global results as well as results for specific regions of the world, including the United Kingdom. Already, the U.K. is the largest internet advertising market in Europe and the third largest in the world (behind the United States and China). By 2018, internet advertising will be the dominant advertising segment in the U.K.. Online video advertising will be the fastest growing type of advertising, followed by mobile advertising. In fact, it is predicted that mobile advertising will surpass online display advertising in 2014.
According to the analysis, U.K. consumers will drive online advertising through their changing behaviors, habits, and preferences. By 2018, it is expected that 50% of the U.K. population will own a tablet and 73% will own a smartphone. Also in 2018, 88.9% of the U.K. population will subscribe to the mobile internet, and 15.5 billion apps will be downloaded.
The shift to digital expands beyond traditional internet and mobile advertising. PWC predicts that ebooks will outsell print books by 2018 with a 21.3% growth rate. Furthermore, digital out-of-home advertising will surpass physical out-of-home advertising this year!
You can follow the link at the beginning of this article to read more from the 15th annual report from PWC. This year, the report provides forecasts for 13 media and entertainment segments in 54 different countries around the world. You’ll see a great deal of consistency from one country or region to another in terms of revenues shifting from television, radio, and magazine advertising to online and mobile.
What do you think of PWC’s predictions? Share your thoughts on the future of advertising in the comments below.
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Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
