Brussels, 4 July 2016 – IAB Europe, in collaboration with IHS Technology, has today published the tenth AdEx Benchmark 2015 Report1 – the definitive guide to the state of the European online advertising market.
The report is a comprehensive perspective of online advertising spend across Europe which is growing ever more essential in the light of European policy formulation, attracting global start-up funding, benchmarking market development trends, the increasingly pan-regional nature of digital advertising investments and the role of Europe’s digital economy in a global context.
The report reveals some of the key milestones of the last ten years culminating in this year’s market value of €36.4bn surpassing the €33.3bn European TV market for the first time. With an increase of 13.0% in 2015, online advertising recorded its sixth consecutive year of double-digit growth. All 27 participating markets recorded positive growth. Twenty of these markets grew double-digit for the second year running (three markets recording 30%+ growth, a further nine showing 20%+ growth and a further eight 10%+ growth).
Top 10 Rankings – year-on-year growth
Digital again drove the overall advertising industry, its 13.0% increase balancing a larger decline of 4.1% registered by other media to arrive at a positive 1.0% growth overall for the total advertising industry against a background of continued low GDP growth.
Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe said, “The tenth edition of the AdEx Benchmark report reveals a huge milestone for the European digital advertising industry as it surpasses TV. As an industry body we strive to work with our members to adopt standards in new business areas help to develop advertiser confidence in new opportunities and at the same time provide transparency and choice to users about how data may be processed. We are also deeply invested in engaging with policy makers on the regulatory framework governing online advertising, notably in the area of data protection.”
Daniel Knapp, Director of Advertising Research at IHS Technology and author of the research, said, "The study shows that even the most mature online advertising markets in Europe sustain double digit growth, clearly indicating the economic vibrancy of the sector. A key driver behind this growth is the proliferation and consolidation of intelligent data infrastructures that serve as a connective tissue between consumers, media and brands.”
The report incorporates data from the following online advertising formats:
Within these formats, the report also breaks out video advertising (as a subset of display) and mobile (display and search).
The report can be accessed here.
