IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark 2020: Positive Growth for the European Digital Advertising Market Achieved in 2020

On 25 May, EACA participated in IAB Europe’s Industry Initiatives, during which their new AdEx Benchmark 2020 Study was presented.  The study found that, compared to the previous year, digital advertising grew by 6.3% in 2020 to €69 billion.

The AdEx Benchmark study divides the digital advertising market into three categories: Display, Search and Classifieds and Directories. The growth of these advertising formats has been underpinned by shifting usage across devices and changing consumption patterns.

Led by the significant expansion of e-commerce, social and video saw the most substantial growth of all channels. Social grew by 15.9%, with video growing by 16.3%. Meanwhile, the display grew 9.1%, with search growing 7.9%.

Although the audio market remains small, accounting for just under 1% of the digital advertising market, it still represents a total value of €500 million.

As Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist at IAB Europe, said: “Digital advertising didn’t have a bad year in 2020, just a bad quarter. We saw a quick recovery already in Q3 before double-digit growth in Q4. A firm reliance on performance channels during the height of the block was complemented by a rapid reorganisation of branding activity, mainly through digital video. The events of 2020 have accelerated long-term socio-economic transformations that are altering the way people consume and the way businesses operate. This provides fertile ground for digital advertising, and we expect the sector to accelerate its growth in 2021. ”

The AdEx Benchmark Study highlights can be downloaded here.

The full AdEx Benchmark 2020 Report will provide full commentary and data across all 28 markets in June 2021.