After the fall, the rebound.
The digital advertising market peaks at 3.83 billion euros in the first half of 2021, according to the SRI e-pub observatory.
An increase in investments of around one billion euros compared to the first half of 2020, which reached 2.7 billion euros, an increase of 42%.
Read also: Despite the crisis, digital advertising resisted in 2020
This recovery is all the more striking as the market contracted by 4% in 2020, completely paralyzed by the health context.
By excluding this unique year, the expansion remains substantial.
Comparing 2021 and 2019, the increase is 37%.
These positive results can be explained by an increased “
digitalization of the economy
” during the crisis, according to the analysis of Emmanuel Amiot of the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, who is carrying out this study for the Syndicat des Régies Internet (SRI) and the Union of Media Consulting and Buying Companies (Udecam).
It also raises the impact of the recovery of certain sectors such as the automobile or tourism.
Press and streaming on the rise
“
Once again, this first half shows that the Google Facebook Amazon trio still captures 80% of this growth,
” explains Sylvia Tassan Toffola, president of the SRI.
Emmanuel Amiot underlines that the American giants "
contribute to the total growth of the market
" but "
also cannibalize part of the advertising investments to the detriment of the traditional players
".
In detail, Search advertising on search engines, dominated by Google, climbed 43% to reach 1.5 billion euros.
A segment where Amazon is also gradually making its place.
For its part, Facebook is the leader in Social, advertising on social networks, a segment which represents 1.1 billion euros in the first quarter.
Read also: How Amazon became a champion of digital advertising
Display advertising, in particular banner advertising, has also seen a big recovery.
It is notably carried by the press and publishing.
This sector represents 278 million euros, for 676 million in total.
Audio and video streaming, which represents 200 million euros, has exploded.
In one half-year, it recorded an increase of 69.5%, thanks to time spent on these platforms which remained "
at very high levels
".
Uncertain projections
This first half of 2021 is the best “
for ten years
” according to Gautier Picquet, president of Udecam. But what are the prospects for the whole year? The Oliver Wyman firm forecasts a sustained rebound in digital advertising in France to 25-30% for the year 2021.
But these projections could be skewed. As of next year, cookie consent could collapse under the effect of two new features: the Cnil directives and Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature. These two devices aim to enlighten Internet users on the collection of their private data and to make it easier for them to refuse it. For its part, Google should also abandon third-party cookies by 2023. A list of changes that pushes players in targeted advertising to review their mode of operation.
