Complete Story
03/20/2015
U.S. ad spending rose just 0.7% last year, despite Olympics, World Cup and elections
Growth in U.S. online display advertising on personal computers slowed as 2014 progressed and totaled just 0.9% for the full 12 months, according to full-year ad figures from Kantar Media. In 2013, that figure was 15.7%.
The web's smaller 2014 growth still outpaced U.S. measured media overall, which rose just 0.7% in 2014, Kantar Media said, for a total of $141.2 billion. That's roughly even with 0.9% growth in 2013 and the fifth consecutive year of increases. And the majority of top 1,000 advertisers increased their year-over-year spending in the fourth quarter, according to Kantar Media, which said that bodes well for early 2015. The digital ad spending figures also don't include video or mobile advertising, significant growth areas for the industry.
But the 2014 increase could have been bigger, given some significant boosts last year that won't recur this year.
"Advertising growth in 2014 was primarily stimulated by the triple play of Winter Olympics, World Cup and midterm elections," said Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America.
