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 / Updated on: October 16, 2020 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

*In the field of e-commerce, “pure play” refers to a business model where goods or services are sold or delivered exclusively via the internet without a physical store.

Pure advertising spending in the UK has increased by an estimated 1,174 percent in just over a decade. GroupM, IAB, PwC, and the Advertising Association report that between 2005 and 2019, digital advertising formats, particularly pure-play platforms, will continue to be one of the main drivers of advertising spending growth.

Digital advertising has existed for almost a decade, beginning with the creation and execution of banner ads, email marketing, and website development. With the growth of digital platforms, ROI-focused advertising, such as e-commerce and search, has expanded revenue streams in the advertising industry. Advertising campaigns have become more tangible thanks to the analytics capabilities made available digitally, driving campaign optimization by advertisers.

In 2005, only about £336 million was spent on digital advertising, while television advertising expenditure was around £3.5 billion and newspaper advertising exceeded £4 billion in the same year. By 2017, pure digital advertising spending had grown to almost £3.5 billion, while newspaper advertising expenditure had shrunk to just over £1 billion. Spending on television advertising remained virtually unchanged, on par with pure-play ads. The report by GroupM, IAB, PwC, and the Advertising Community predicts that this trend will 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.

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