Great Britain: Pure-play ads have grown by 1.174% – Great Britain: Pure-play ads have grown by 1.174%

Published on: March 11, 2019 / Update from: October 16, 2020 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

*In the area of ​​e-commerce, “Pure Play” refers to a business model where goods or services are sold or delivered only via the Internet without a physical store.

Pure advertising spending in the UK is estimated to have increased by 1,174 percent in just over a decade. Group M, IAB, PwC and the Advertising Association report between 2005 and 2019 that digital advertising, particularly pure-play, will continue to be a key growth driver for advertising spending.

Digital as an advertising option has been around for almost a decade, starting with the creation and execution of banner advertising, email marketing and website development. With the growth of digital platforms, advertising that focuses on ROI, such as e-commerce and search, has expanded the revenue streams in the advertising industry. Advertising campaigns became more tangible through the analytical capabilities made available digitally, which drove advertisers' optimization of campaigns.

In 2005, only around £336 million was spent on digital advertising, while spending on television advertising was around £3.5 billion and newspaper advertising reached over £4 billion in the same year. By 2017, digital-only advertising grew to almost 3.5 billion, while newspaper advertising shrank to just over a billion in advertising spend. Spending on TV advertising has remained almost the same and is therefore on par with pure-play ads. The report from Group M, IAB, PwC and the advertising community expects the trend to continue in 2019.

*In e-commerce, “pure play” refers to a business model in which goods or services are sold or delivered without a shop only via the Internet.

Pure-play ad spending in the UK is estimated to have grown by 1,174 percent in a little over a decade. Between 2005 and 2019, Group M, IAB, PwC, and the Advertising Association report that digital forms of advertising, particularly pure-play, will continue to be one of the main drivers of growth in ad spending.

Digital as an avenue for advertising has existed for the better part of a decade, starting with the creation and execution of banner advertising, email marketing, and website development. As digital platforms grew, advertising focused on ROI, like e-commerce and search, expanded the revenue sources in the advertising industry. Advertising campaigns became more accountable due to the analytic capabilities digital provides, which pushed how advertisers optimized campaigns.

In 2005, only about 336 million pounds were spent on digital display, while TV ad spending hovered around 3.5 billion pounds and newspaper advertising hit over 4 billion pounds in the same year. By 2017, pure-play digital grew to close to 3.5 billion, while newspaper advertising shrunk to a little over a billion in ad spend. TV ad spending flatlined putting it on par with pure-play. The report put out by Group M, IAB, PwC, and the Advertising Association predicts that trend will continue in 2019.