The winter update of MAGNA’s “Global Ad Forecast” reveals that media owners’ net advertising revenues (NAR) reached $933 billion in 2024, growing +10.3% over 2023. This is in line with MAGNA’s mid-year prediction (+10.0%) and a significant acceleration on the global growth recorded in 2023 (+6.4%). +10.3% is the strongest growth rate observed by MAGNA in 25 years (excluding the post-COVID surge in 2021 of +23%).
New York, December 8, 2024
Key Takeaways
- The winter update of MAGNA’s “Global Ad Forecast” published Monday December 9th reveals that media owners’ ad revenues reached $933 billion in 2024, up +10%, in line with mid-year expectations.
- The advertising revenues of traditional media owners (TMO) - from the cross-platform television, radio, publishing, out-of-home, and cinema media owners – grew by an estimated +4% to $274 billion – the best performance in 14 years (if we exclude the post-COVID recovery of 2021).
- TMO ad sales were boosted by a record number of cyclical events (elections in the US, Mexico, and India, as well as the Summer Olympics, Football Euro, Copa America competitions) and a +12% growth in TMO’s non-linear ad sales (e.g. ad-supported streaming +18%) that now account for 25% of total TMO ad revenues.
- The advertising sales of Digital Pure Players (DPP) (Search, Retail, Social, Short-Form Digital Video) increased by +13% to reach $659 billion, driven by Search/Commerce ad formats (+12%) Short-Form Video (+12%) and Social Media (+18%).
- DPP ad sales were boosted by organic growth factors including competition in ecommerce (e.g., Temu and Shein now targeting European consumers), the rise of retail media networks ($144 billion), AI targeting and placement algorithms, and better monetization of short vertical videos in social and video apps.
- After a strong first half (global ad spend +12%), the ad market slowed in the second half (+8%). TMO ad sales slowed noticeably in Europe in the second half, while political advertising kept TMO growing in the US. DPP ad sales grew by double-digits through the year despite tougher comps in the second half.
- Among the most dynamic ad markets this year: France and the US (both +12%), India and the UK (both +11%). Growth was more subdued in Japan and Canada (both +8%), China (+7%), Germany and Australia (both +6%). The US market remained the largest with $380 billion, ahead of China ($155bn).
- CPG/FMCG, Government, Betting, and Finance were among the fastest-growing industry verticals in 2024, while Tech recovered, driven by “AI-Powered” marketing, and Travel slowed down. In 2025, MAGNA expects Auto, CPG and Tech to be dynamic, but Auto is vulnerable to trade and incentive policies.
- As the “Big Three” digital media owners (Google, Meta, Amazon) outperformed market growth in 2024 - with ad revenues growing by +11%, +22%, and +21% over 1Q-3Q resp. - their combined market share grew to 51% reach of global ad revenues, and 61% outside China.
- Looking at 2025, the stabilization of the European economy and the continued impact of organic growth drivers will keep the global ad market growing: MAGNA forecasts the global marketplace to grow by +6.1%, to approach the trillion-dollar mark ($990 billion) (DPP: +9%, TMO: -2%) while the US market grows by +4.9% to flirt with the $400bn milestone.
Vincent Létang, EVP, Global Market Research at MAGNA, and author of the report, said:
“The strong growth of advertising spending in 2024, despite a challenging economic environment, was of course driven by an unusually high number of major cyclical events but, more fundamentally, media innovation is what attracts a growing share of marketing budgets into advertising formats. Digital Pure-Play ad formats (Search, Retail Search, Social and Short-Form Video) are fueled by the rise of Commerce Media redirecting billions of dollars from trade marketing into digital formats. The growing reach of ad-supported CTV streaming makes cross-platform long-form video more attractive to advertisers as it now offers scale on top of addressability and brand safety. With no major cyclical drivers in 2025, MAGNA expects ad spend growth rates to slow, but the organic factors will remain at work, stabilizing TMO ad revenues, and growing DPP ad sales.”
To read the full report, please visit the MAGNA website.
ABOUT THE RESEARCH
The MAGNA market research is media centric. It estimates net media owners advertising revenues based on an analysis of financial reports and data from local trade organizations; other ad market studies are based on tracking ad insertions or consolidating agency billings. The MAGNA approach provides the most accurate and comprehensive picture of the market as it captures total net media owners’ ad revenues coming from national consumer brands’ spending as well as small, local, “direct” advertisers. Forecasts are based on economic outlook and market shares dynamic. The full Ad Forecast report (80 pages) and dataset contains more granular media breakdowns and forecasts to 2028, for 70 markets.
ABOUT MAGNA
MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers. We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity, and inquisitiveness. We operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity, and enablement. For more information, please visit https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn.
MAGNA has set the industry standard for more than 60 years by predicting the future of media value. We publish more than 50 reports per year on media and advertising market trends. To access full reports and databases or to learn more about our market research services, contact forecasting@magnaglobal.com.
Press Contact: Suzette Meade, IPG Mediabrands | suzette.meade@mbww.com