Data & Insights

Digital Ad Spend Was a ‘Bright Spot’ in Advertising’s Dark Year, GroupM Says

Its end-of-year forecast says the sector grew 5%

GroupM-year-end-Advertising-Report — GroupM's end-of-year forecast says small businesses helped digital ad spend grow this year.Getty Images

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As 2020 comes to a close, media giant GroupM thinks that the tumultuous year’s impact on U.S. ad spend may not be as severe as initially predicted.

In its end-of-year forecast report, GroupM said it expects a roughly 9% decline in 2020 ad spend year over year, better than the 13% it warned of in June. These figures exclude the impact of political advertising.

Digital advertising is expected to grow by 5% in 2020, according to the report.