South Africa is expected to see its ad market grow by 6.0% this year, according to Warc’s 2024 global advertising spend forecast. However, when measured in dollars, this growth translates to only a 1.1% increase due to the weak rand by historical measures. This growth is reflective of the overall global trend, with the ad market doubling in size over the last decade and growing 2.8 times faster than global economic output since 2014.
The global advertising spend is on track to reach $1.07 trillion this year, marking the best performance in six years if we exclude the post-Covid recovery of 2021. The growth is expected to continue next year and in 2026, culminating in a global ad market worth $1.23 trillion. Three companies – Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta – have been the largest beneficiaries of this growth, attracting seven in 10 incremental ad dollars over the last 10 years. These three companies are expected to account for more than 70% of all advertising spend this year, with their share projected to increase to over 46% by 2026.
Online-only businesses, or pureplay internet companies, are set to record a 14.0% rise in advertising revenue this year, reaching a total of $735.7 billion. Almost nine in every 10 incremental dollars spent on advertising this year will go to online-only businesses, with half of that amount being paid to Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta. Retail media, social media, and search are expected to lead digital growth in 2024, with these sectors alone accounting for over 85% of online spend and almost three in every five incremental dollars spent on advertising worldwide this year.
Social media is the largest single advertising channel, with a forecasted total of $241.8 billion in 2024. Meta is the largest individual player in the social media market, commanding 62.6% of the market share this year. Search advertising, excluding retail media, accounts for 21.8% of global advertising spend, with Google dominating the market with over 80% share. Retail media is expected to account for 14.3% of global ad spend this year, with Amazon being the dominant player in the market.
In terms of regional trends, North America is expected to be the fastest-growing region this year, with ad spend rising by 8.6% to a total of $347.5 billion. Latin America follows closely behind, with Brazil expected to record local currency growth of 9.6% this year. In Europe, the UK is expected to post an 8.0% rise in ad spend to £38.5 billion ($47.5 billion) in 2024.
Overall, the global advertising industry is experiencing significant growth, driven by the uptake of AI-enabled media tools and the increasing importance of first-party data in targeting the right audience. With the continued expansion of online advertising and the rise of new players in the market, the advertising industry is poised for further growth in the coming years.