US Industry Ad Spending

We forecast that total US digital ad spending will grow just 1.7% this year, a steep decline from the rapid expansion of recent years. However, within this generally stagnant growth picture lies a variety of industry-level outcomes. Several verticals we track will still produce relatively standout increases in spending, while others will contract at unprecedented rates.

While nearly every industry in the US will experience slowdowns in digital ad spend this year, the retail industry will stay above water thanks to its accelerated embrace of ecommerce. We expect it to remain the largest spender on digital ads among all verticals, despite a huge deceleration in growth. The industry will increase spending by 3.1% to $28.23 billion.