According to the report, the 16.4% year-on-year rise in spend was the highest rate since 2008 (17.1%), as the number of internet-enabled devices per household increased 12% in a year to 8.3 per UK household. Connected TVs saw the biggest rise in ownership (27%) followed by smartphones (21%), whilst laptops (18%) outgrew tablets (16%). Smartphones are the most popular internet device (2.1 per household) followed by laptops (1.6) and tablets (1.4).
Mobile accounted for the vast majority (78%) of digital ad spend growth, increasing 60.3% year-on-year to £2.63bn – or 30.5% of all digital advertising.
Video ad spend, overall, grew 50.7% to £711 million whilst video spend on mobile alone increased by 98% to £353 million due to the increasing numbers of people watching video, TV and film on smartphones.
Content and native advertising spend – which includes ‘advertorials’ and ads in social media news feeds – increased by 49.9% to £776 million.
Ad spend on social media sites grew 45% to £1.25bn – now accounting for 41% of all digital ‘display’ advertising, which excludes search and classified advertising.
Banner and video ‘display’ ads accounted for 35% (£3.03bn) of digital ad spend, after rising 24.5% year-on-year. However, paid-for search ads remain the biggest format in digital, with a 51% share of ad revenues (£4.36bn) after rising 15.3%. Classifieds, including recruitment, property and automotive listings, grew 5.2% to £1.11bn (13% share).
Consumer goods, such as food, toiletries and clothing, companies spent the most on banner and video ads (aka display) in 2015, responsible for 18% of spend, followed by travel & transport (13.4%) and retailers (13.3%).
“The increasing array of devices through which people go online has helped digital ad spend hit another gear as advertisers look to reach them and time spent online increases,” says Tim Elkington, Chief Strategy Officer at the UK’s Internet Advertising Bureau. “Smartphones are the major driving force behind this, as people increasingly use them for activities they used to do on desktop, from searching and shopping to social and watching video.”
Elkington notes: “The increase in digital ad spend also benefits consumers as it pays for the wide range of free online services they increasingly rely on, but don’t necessarily want to pay much for.”
In addition to the £8.61bn going on ad spend in 2015, advertisers spent a further £953 million to attract customers via activities on ‘deal’ websites such as price comparison, voucher, cashback, loyalty and product review sites.
Known in the industry as ‘online performance marketing’, 75% of adults online have undertaken at least one of the OPM activities listed in the last six months, with usage of price comparison sites (40%) the most popular activity, followed by entering a competition (35%) or using a voucher code site (26%).
Spend on OPM generated £17.7 billion in sales – equivalent to around 10% of all UK e-commerce retail sales and 1% of GDP.
