Overall digital advertising spend grew 13% in 2024 to £35.5bn, according to data from IAB and MediaSense.
While the UK economy grew just 1.1% in 2024, digital advertising made strong gains over the past 12 months.
Overall, the UK’s digital ad market grew 13% last year to £35.5bn. Brands invested in video display advertising at a greater rate, with video spend up 20% to £8.3bn, according to IAB UK’s latest Digital Adspend report.
It means 64% of all online display advertising was for video, across social channels, publishers, outstream, ad-based video on demand (AVOD) and broadcast video on demand (BVOD), up from 51% five years ago. Overall, video accounted for 23% of spend.
However, search remains on top. Almost half (47%) of all digital ad spend in 2024 focused on search, representing a 13% year-on-year increase to £16.6bn.
Retail media spend up 12% in 2023 as digital landscape shifts
Retail media continues to grow, with investment up 23% to £1.4bn last year, giving it a 4% market share. Meanwhile, the gaming ad market grew by 9% to £1.1bn.
It was a year of change for digital advertising. “Whether you’re watching a podcast on your phone or streaming YouTube on the TV, how we consume media is becoming increasingly video-centric and that’s shaping where advertisers are investing budgets,” says IAB UK’s CEO Jon Mew.
He adds: “Digital video ads give brands the creative canvas to create brilliant content themselves and deliver those essential brand-building moments. We expect to see advertisers’ shift to video accelerate over the coming years as new technology diversifies our screen choices and barriers between different media channels continue to erode.”
IAB UK forecasts total digital ad spend will grow 7% in 2025 to £38bn, and £42.4bn by 2027. The investment in video display is predicted to account for 27% of all digital spend by 2027.
