Digital and mobile video viewership, adoption of subscription over-the-top (OTT) services and video ad spending are on the rise throughout the world as audiences, programmers and advertisers continue to shift focus from traditional to digital platforms.

eMarketer vice president of forecasting Monica Peart breaks down our digital ad spending estimates in China and the influence of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.

Adults in China spend more time on digital than they do with any other media. Moreover, time spent on digital will continue to grow at a rapid pace, encroaching on time spent with traditional media.

Despite a faltering economy and subdued growth across traditional media, total media ad spend in China will maintain strong growth on the back of increases in digital and mobile, where the top digital publishers will maintain their dominance.

In 2019, digital will account for 50.1% of total media ad spending worldwide thanks to strong growth from major digital ad sellers like Google, Facebook, Alibaba and Amazon. Traditional channels will remain important, however, as advertisers begin to think more holistically about their advertising and marketing budgets.

State media network China Central Television (CCTV) is the main purveyor of sports programming in China, but OTT players, including Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, have disrupted the ecosystem by securing streaming rights to major sports properties.

Smaller ad players in China are nipping at the heels of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) as programmatic ad spending grows faster than expected. According to eMarketer’s latest programmatic ad forecast for China, category spending will increase more than 33% to ¥208.55 billion ($30.86 billion) in 2019.

China’s fast-paced retail ecommerce growth hasn’t spelled doom for physical stores. Rather, brick-and-mortar is undergoing a transformation of its own, underlined by an infusion of technology and the growing integration between online and offline.

Among the $327.28 billion spent worldwide on digital advertising in 2019, 61.2% will go toward advertising on Google, Facebook and Alibaba. This report includes our latest global ad spending forecast by country, region and company.

Of the $62.55 billion spent on digital advertising in China this year, at least 80% will go toward mobile formats. This report includes our latest ad spending and time spent with media forecasts for China.

Alibaba's Singles' Day is expected to be the biggest selling day for smart speakers in China, and a key driver to adoption in the market.

As consumers turn to voice assistants for a growing list of everyday activities, marketers are exploring ways to add value to these interactions and boost brand engagement.

Rapid adoption of digital assistants, smart speakers and other voice-controlled devices is changing the face of human-machine interaction. This report examines the state of the market for these technologies and what’s likely to happen next.