Media Buying

Principal analyst Lauren Fisher joins guest host and fellow principal analyst Nicole Perrin to discuss Amazon’s plans to offer video ad inventory to demand-side platforms dataxu and The Trade Desk. They also talk about our new programmatic fee estimates, Microsoft’s purchase of ad-tech firm PromoteIQ and Facebook’s offer to pay for news.

People routinely refer to the digital era as one of rapid change. But it’s more accurate to say the pace is uneven. This Roundup includes data, insights and interviews on the latest trends impacting digital ad spending and key happenings across marketing channels.

For the first time ever, US consumers will spend more time using their mobile devices than watching TV, with smartphone use dominating that time spent. Consumers’ use of smartphones will continue to make up the majority of their media consumption, but we predict that use will plateau by 2020 as consumers become increasingly uneasy about overuse of mobile devices.

Travel is the sixth-largest industry in terms of ad spending in the US this year, according to our newest estimates. Rising competition and a strong economy are prompting travel companies to increase their ad budgets to capture a larger market share.

US consumers dig digital audio, and as listenership heats up, so does advertiser investment. For direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, podcasts are top-of-mind as they provide engaging and influential ad opportunities.

eMarketer principal analysts Nicole Perrin and Andrew Lipsman discuss what makes for a good loyalty scheme. They also break down Pinterest’s Q2 results, the impact of a negative review and lessons learned from Amazon Prime Day 2019.

In our Facebook Advertising in 2021 report, eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson detailed how advertisers are currently engaging with Facebook and how that might change if controversy and the subsequent reduction of targeting tools continues. Among the CMOs we spoke with were Brandon Rhoten of the restaurant chain Potbelly Sandwich Works, Allison Lowrie of the digital classifieds service ANGI Homeservices Inc. and Peter Scheer of the ecommerce car retailer Vroom.

eMarketer junior forecasting analyst Nazmul Islam breaks down our display and search ad spend numbers and explains why video is a large component of display’s growth in Canada. Watch now.

The programmatic ad supply chain can be opaque, making it difficult for buy- and sell-side platforms to quantify how much money is being paid to vendors. Our new estimates on programmatic fees may shed some light for advertisers and publishers on how much share of all nonsocial programmatic display ad spending is going to fees.

In 2019, US retail search ad spend will increase 22.5% to $13.12 billion. Retail search spend is bolstered by Google Shopping ads and lower-funnel ads that are essential for driving ecommerce.

Digital's share of time spent is above 50% in China, US, UK, South Korea and Canada, but under 50% in France, Germany, Japan and India.