Nielsen: Internet Display Advertising Grew 32% In 2013...

Nielsen: Internet Display Advertising Grew 32% In 2013, But It's Still Only 4.5% Of Spend Vs. TV At 57.6%

January 28, 2014 - Nielsen put out its latest figures on the state of the advertising market across old and new media platforms this morning. One big takeaway is that Internet advertising continues to be the fastest-growing medium, but it remains a small player. Global display advertising across the web, mobile internet and apps collectively grew by 32.4% in 2013 — by far the biggest leap of any media — but that still worked out to a 4.5% share of the overall spend in ads. In contrast, television grew only 4.3% but remains the behemoth when it comes to ad spend, taking nearly 58% of the market.

Nielsen does not include monetary figures in its forecasts — only what percentages each platform is getting in terms of ad spend, and how those are declining or growing. For an idea of what kind of size we are looking at here, Zenith Optimedia estimates that in 2013 ad spend passed $500 billion for the first time. It also, incidentally, gives a higher share of that spend to Internet than Nielsen does: around 21%, compared to around 40% for television. That is likely because it also includes search ads alongside display when considering the Internet ad market.