Digital Ad Spending in China 2018

How Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent Are Growing Ad Revenues in Search, Ecommerce and Social

Report by Corey McNair  | Nov 14, 2018
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Of the $62.55 billion spent on digital advertising in China this year, at least 80% will go toward mobile formats. This report includes our latest ad spending and time spent with media forecasts for China.
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Digital Ad Spending
China
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Digital ad spending in China will experience robust growth in 2018, fueled by mobile ad spending, which we expect to continue despite uncertainty surrounding the US trade war and tariffs. By the end of this year, digital ad expenditures will represent 22.4% of the global digital ad market.

How much ad spending in China will go to digital formats? eMarketer forecasts that digital ad spending will increase 26.5% to $62.55 billion in 2018. Digital will account for 64.8% of China’s total media ad spending.

What factors are influencing digital ad spending in China? Mobile will account for at least 80% of digital ad spending, with the trio of tech companies known as “BAT” (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) capturing most of those dollars (69.7% of total mobile spending). Digital video ad spending will grow by 34.6% this year as marketers look to reach the consumers spending more time watching digital video formats.

At least 80% of digital ad spending in China will go to mobile formats. This is due to a robust number of mobile ad products, and the fact that adults are spending a significant amount of digital media time with mobile devices (59.3%). Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent have all taken a mobile-first approach to advertising and will account for 69.7% of total mobile ad spending this year. Among digital advertising overall, they will capture 63.2% of ad dollars.

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Charts in This Report

Net Mobile Internet Ad Revenue Share in China, by Company, 2018 (% of total)Total Media Ad Spending in China, by Media, 2017-2022 (billions and % of total)
Digital Ad Spending in China, by Format, 2017-2022 (billions)Digital Ad Spending in China, by Device, 2017-2022
Net Digital Ad Revenues in China, by Company, 2017-2020 (billions and % change)Average Time Spent per Day with Major Media by Adults in China, 2014-2020 (hrs:mins)
Share of Average Time Spent per Day with Internet by Adults in China, by Device, 2014-2020 (% of total)Sina Weibo Net Ad Revenues in China, 2016-2020 (billions, % change and % of total digital ad spending)
iQiyi Net Ad Revenues in China, 2016-2020 (billions, % change and % of total digital video ad spending)Average Time Spent per Day with Digital Video by Adults in China, 2016-2020 (hrs:mins and % change)

authors

Corey McNair