Executive Summary

Most digital display advertising in the US is now native—which includes a variety of formats from in-feed units to sponsored content. Notably, native encompasses almost all display spending on social networks. But the nonsocial side of the market is growing.

• How much will US advertisers spend on native display placements in 2019? US advertisers will spend almost $44 billion on native ads—$8.66 billion more than they did last year. Almost all that additional spending will go to mobile placements, which already account for about 85% of the US native display ad market. By the end of 2020, advertisers will devote almost two-thirds of display budgets to native ads.
• Where do most native ad dollars go? Most native ad spending goes toward social networks—especially Facebook. Broken down by device, mobile is the clear winner thanks largely to in-app advertising. And again, most dollars go to Facebook, which makes the vast majority of its ad revenues on mobile.
• What’s the growth outlook for nonsocial programmatic native advertising? Native advertising outside social networks and programmatic native advertising are both among the fastest-growing categories of native—and the intersection of the two is also steadily increasing. Social networks still dominate the native ad market, though, taking about three-quarters of spending this year.
• What are the challenges for advertisers investing in native display? Native advertising outside social platforms still faces many of the same challenges as it did in 2018, including advertiser clients not educated about native formats and native creative. Sponsored content campaigns have better infrastructure, but remain difficult to scale.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report outlines our latest estimates of native display ad spending in the US and discusses the trends and developments in the space over the past year.

KEY STAT: US advertisers will increase their investments in native digital display advertising this year by 24.6% to almost $44 billion. By next year, almost two-thirds of display spending will go toward native ads.