Executive Summary

The US automotive industry will increase its digital ad spending by 15.8% to $15.91 billion in 2019. Meanwhile, total US digital ad spend will grow by 19.1% this year. Automotive advertising is growing at a slower rate than most other ad spending verticals due to weakness in the auto market.

What is automotive’s share of total US digital ad spend?

Auto will account for 12.3% of total US digital ad spend in 2019. Its share will drop to 12.0% in 2020. Automotive will drop from the second highest digital ad spending vertical to the third in 2020.

Why is its share dropping?

The auto industry's ad budgets continue to be constrained by global macroeconomic conditions like tariffs and stricter emission standards.

Which digital ad formats are growing the fastest?

Video is a strong growth area for auto. US automotive digital video ad spend will grow 21.7% to $5.19 billion in 2019. In 2020, auto advertisers will spend $6.22 billion on video.

How much will auto advertisers spend on mobile?

Mobile spend by US automotive advertisers will increase 19.3% to $10.36 billion in 2019, accounting for 65.1% of auto ad spend this year and 68.1% in 2020.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? Our annual breakdown of US automotive industry digital ad spending includes a comprehensive overview of total digital ad spending, as well as estimates by channel, device and format.

KEY STAT: The US automotive industry will increase its digital ad spending by 15.8% to $15.91 billion in 2019.