Mobile Video Ad Spend To Surpass Computer Spend For First Time Next Year (Report)

As of last year, viewers began consuming more video content on mobile devices than computers — and next year, overall ad spend will calibrate to reflect this shift.

Global mobile video ad spend will grow 49% to roughly $18 billion in 2018, reports Recode, citing data from media measurement firm Zenith, while non-mobile video ad spend is expected to fall 1.5% to $15 billion. This gap will continue to widen in 2019, when mobile video spend is estimated to hit $22.5 billion, and fixed online video spend is expected to remain relatively flat at $16.2 billion.

These changing tides are due to the fact that overall video consumption is expected to decline on laptops and computers for the first time next year — while video viewership on phones and tablets is expected to grow by a whopping 25%. In 2018, for instance, the average viewer is expected to watch 36 minutes of online video per day on a mobile device, as opposed to half as much — roughly 19 minutes — on a computer.

While viewership is rising on smart TVs, Recode notes, it’s not enough to impact an overall decline in non-mobile devices.

Today, despite the fact that mobile is king, marketers allocate the majority of their ad spend to non-mobile mediums. This year, for instance, fixed online video spend is expected to reach $15.2 billion, while mobile spend comes in at just $12 billion.