Ginny Marvin says, “It appears that digital’s up-and-to-the-right trajectory of the past several years hit a bit of a lull in 2016. According to a report by advertising intelligence firm Standard Media Index (SMI), spending growth on digital advertising slowed to 13.3 percent year over year, compared to the sharp 26.2 percent growth seen in 2015 over 2014. From 2012 to 2015, digital has had a 19 percent compound annual growth rate. The fourth quarter of 2016 saw growth of just 7.1 percent compared to the previous year.

The two behemoths, Google and Facebook, account for some 76 percent of new investment in digital advertising, according to the Internet Trends Report by Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Take them out of the mix, and the growth rate was just 8.7 percent year over year. Ad spend on Facebook rose 83 percent from 2015. Google saw 16.6 percent growth.

Among the second-tier networks, Snapchat stood out in 2016, with ad spend growing 356 percent year over year. Snapchat surpassed Pinterest, which had seen 8 percent higher ad spend than Snapchat in 2015. In 2016, spend volume was 167 percent greater on Snapchat than Pinterest. Pinterest saw spend volume grow 58.2 percent year over year”.

Report: Digital ad spend growth slowed in 2016; Snapchat overtook Pinterest

Marketing Land

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