INFOGRAPHIC

Quarterly Global Advertising Spend Trends: Q4 2024

Q4 2024 Advertising Trends By Industry Vertical

PubMatic’s Quarterly Ad Spend report was created to provide both publishers and advertisers with insights into the changing trends of the advertising industry. Here are the key digital trends from Q4 2024’s advertising spend data.

AD SPENDING CHANGE BY ADVERTISER CATEGORY

Q4 2024, YoY

Global advertising expenditure in the fourth quarter rose by 6% year-over-year, with political ads on CTV driving much of this growth. End-of-year holiday promotions in October are becoming increasingly important. Forrester estimated that 29.8% of US holiday eCommerce sales happen in October1. While November continues to be the month with the highest advertising spending, a number of key days in Q4 now also occur in the last week of October.

1Forrester Research US Online Holiday Retail Sales Forecast, 2024

LARGEST ADVERTISER AD SPEND INCREASES DURING Q4, BY CATEGORY

Family & Parenting, and Home & Graden ad spending usually peaks in Q4 but tends to drop sharply in Q1, often hitting its lowest point of the year during that period. Pet ad spending, a category that has remained resilient during economic downturns, reaches its second-highest spending season in Q4 (with the highest in Q2). This trend reflects the ongoing rise in pet ownership and the associated costs.1

1“10 Pet Spending Statistics You Need To Know,” eTailPet, 2024: https://etailpet.io/blog/pet-spending-statistics

SMALLEST ADVERTISER AD SPEND INCREASES DURING Q4, BY CATEGORY

Ad spending in Law, Government & Politics in Q4 2024 tripled compared to the 2020 US election cycle. This surge reflects the growing shift to digital platforms, driven by their effectiveness, real-time efficiency, and ability to precisely target audiences. However, ad spend in this category experienced the sharpest decline following the November elections. The decline in Q4 ad spending from Career advertisers is largely due to seasonality, as spending usually dips after the high in Q3.

AD SPENDING CHANGE BY ADVERTISER CATEGORY

2024, YoY

In 2024, global advertising expenditure expanded by more than 14% year-over-year, driven significantly by the Law, Government, and Politics sector. This sector’s advertising spend rose over four times compared to the previous year, with ad spend growing more than three times over the last US presidential election cycle in 2020. A key factor in this growth was the strategic use of premium Connected TV (CTV) inventory, which offered political advertisers a powerful platform for reaching their audiences with precision and scale.

MORE INSIGHTS

Explore the latest trends in video ad inventory, or check out our rolling 4 quarter lookback on select categories for seasonal trends.

PubMatic’s data analytics team analyzes over 1 trillion global advertiser bids on a daily basis, utilizing the company’s best-in-class analytics capabilities. This snapshot is based on PubMatic-sourced operational data. Advertiser category definitions are aligned to IAB’s content taxonomy categories

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