US Telecom, Computing Products and Consumer Electronics Digital Ad Spending 2020

Amid the Pandemic, Tech Industry Ad Spending Is Undaunted

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About This Report
Digital ad spend by telecom and by computing products and consumer electronics companies will outperform industry averages in 2020. In a difficult year for digital ad spending, they will be two of only three industries to maintain double-digit growth.

Executive Summary

The US computing products and consumer electronics industry will be the fastest-growing digital ad spender in 2020, up 18.0% from last year. Telecom will be the third-fastest-growing, up 12.0% from 2019. Total US digital ad spend will grow by 1.7% in 2020.

How much will the two tech categories spend on digital ads?

The telecom industry will account for $13.99 billion of total digital ad spend in 2020, and the computing products and consumer electronics industry for $11.64 billion. Collectively, the two industries will make up 19% of the market.

How much of that spending will go toward mobile?

Mobile will capture 76.5% of digital ad spend for telecom and 75.7% for computing products and consumer electronics—more than the industry average of 68.0%. That ranks the two industries among the three most mobile-centric digital advertisers.

Which digital ad format will see the most spending?

Both verticals will allocate more digital ad dollars to display than to search. Telecom advertisers will spend $8.89 billion, or 63.6%, of their 2020 digital ad budgets on display, about 8 percentage points higher than the industry average. Computing products and consumer electronics companies will spend $7.25 billion, or 62.3%, of their digital ad budgets on display this year.

How has the coronavirus changed the outlook?

We estimate that, despite the pandemic, both industries will continue to increase their digital ad spending at an unrelenting pace. The growth of telecom’s digital ad spend this year will be just 3.8 percentage points lower than our pre-pandemic estimate. For computing products and consumer electronics, digital ad spend growth will be only 0.4 percentage points less than previously forecast.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report provides our annual breakdown of digital ad spending for telecom and for computing products and consumer electronics. While most other reports in this series focus on a single industry, we examine two verticals here because of their similarities.

KEY STAT: The telecom and computing products and consumer electronics industries will see digital ad spending growth rates at 12.0% and 18.0%, respectively, well above the overall industry average in 2020.

Here’s what’s in the full report

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21expert perspectives

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Table of Contents

  1. Executive Summary
  2. Telecom, Computing Products and Consumer Electronics Digital Ad Spending Outlook
  3. Digital Ad Spending by Device
  1. Digital Ad Spending by Format
  2. Key Takeaways
  3. eMarketer Interviews
  1. Read Next
  2. Sources
  3. Media Gallery

Interviewed for This Report

Dave Antonelli
Dish Media
Director, Sling TV
Interviewed June 12, 2020
Arsen Avakian
Cooler Screens
Co-Founder and CEO
Interviewed June 17, 2020
Danielle Cravatt
VDX.tv
Senior Vice President, Client Partnerships
Interviewed June 8, 2020
Klarn DePalma
MNI Targeted Media
Executive Vice President
Interviewed June 3, 2020
Stephani Estes
Cramer-Krasselt
Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Media
Interviewed June 8, 2020
Doug Grumet
AMP Agency
Senior Vice President, Media
Interviewed June 9, 2020
Kunal Gupta
Polar
Founder and CEO
Interviewed June 4, 2020
Cheryl Huckabay
The Richards Group
Managing Principal, Media
Interviewed June 15, 2020
Jennifer Kohl
VMLY&R
Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Integrated Media
Interviewed June 10, 2020
Todd Krizelman
MediaRadar
Founder and CEO
Interviewed June 4, 2020
James Malins
Amobee
General Manager, Cross-Channel Strategic Solutions
Interviewed June 25, 2020
Japhia Mangan
Adlucent
Senior Account Director
Interviewed June 12, 2020
Mike Menkes
Analytic Partners
Senior Vice President
Interviewed June 9, 2020
Jon Morgenstern
VaynerMedia
Senior Vice President and Head of Investment
Interviewed June 18, 2020
Frost Prioleau
Simpli.fi
CEO
Interviewed June 3, 2020
Jon Schulz
Viant Technology
CMO
Interviewed June 10, 2020
Scott Symonds
AKQA Media
Managing Partner, Media
Interviewed June 16, 2020
Jeremy Tate
DWA, a Merkle Company
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Interviewed June 4, 2020
Vanessa Vignon
UbiSoft Entertainment
President, Audience, Acquisition and Management
Interviewed June 23, 2020
April Weeks
Centro
Executive Vice President, Media Services and Operations
Interviewed June 15, 2020
Brian Wieser
GroupM
Global President, Business Intelligence
Interviewed June 26, 2020

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authors

Ethan Cramer-Flood

Contributors

Blake Droesch
Junior Analyst
Oscar Orozco
Director, Forecasting