US digital advertising revenues (on the Internet) in the US totaled US $57.9 billion for the half year (“HY”) of 2019, with Q2 2019 accounting for approx. $29.9 billion & Q1 2019 accounting for approx. $28.0 billion. Revenues for HY 2019 increased 16.9% over HY 2018 over HY 2018 with revenues of $49.5 billion.
The report commissioned by the IAB & conducted by PwC Advisory Services LLC, said in the 2nd quarter of 2019, Web advertising revenues in the US totaled $29.9 billion, an increase of 6.7% from the 2019 1st quarter total of $28.0 billion, & an increase of 16.7% from the 2018 2nd quarter total of $25.6 billion.
Advertising revenues delivered on mobile devices totaled $39.9 billion in HY 2019, a 29.1% increase from the prior HY 2018 revenues of $30.9 billion. Advertising delivered on a mobile device now makes up 69.0% of total internet advertising revenues.
The record-breaking total marks a 17% year-over-year increase from the 1st half of 2018. While increased growth is continuing in digital, the report also cautions that resources associated with complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) & the myriad of other data regulations proposed by states will likely have a negative impact on businesses in the digital marketplace.
Video advertising was cited as a major contributor to the growth, with spend climbing 36% year-over-year to a total of $9.5 billion for 1H 2019. With the growing pool of cord-cutters & cord-nevers continuing to drive the expansion of connected television (CTV), social video stories & other forms of non-traditional video Content have advertisers increasing their investment in CTV, according to an IAB press release.
Other highlights from the report include:
- Mobile advertising continued growing, reaching $40 billion for the 1st half of the year — a 29% increase from the $30.9 billion spent on mobile during the same time period in 2018
- Audio advertising spend was rising with the emergence of smart speakers, up 30% year-over-year to a total of $1.2 billion for the 1st six months of 2019
- Advertisers spent $1.7 billion on rich media ads during the 1st half of the year, 20% more than they did during the first half of 2018.
