China’s digital ad spend soars

Chinese media has the highest share of digital advertising revenue in the world, with the market penetration of ‘online spending’ almost double that of the Australian industry.

Almost 82 per cent of all advertising across Chinese media appears on digital platforms. Picture: AFP

Chinese media has the highest share of digital advertising revenue in the world, with the market penetration of “online spend” almost double that of the Australian industry, according to the findings of a landmark study.

Almost 82 per cent of all advertising across Chinese media appears on digital platforms, compared to 44.5 per cent in the Australian market.

The US media market has a 63.8 per cent share of digital ad revenue, followed by Canada (60.8 per cent), the UK (51 per cent), and New Zealand (46.2 per cent).

The report, conducted by ad tracking company Guideline, is the first “cross-media” study of ad expenditure in China, which is the world’s second largest ad market behind the US. The study was based on data collected in the first six months of this year.

While television and print revenues have been soft across the globe since the end of the pandemic, digital media ad expenditure has strengthened over the same period.

The Guideline study, to be released on Monday, shows the television market in China claims just a three per cent share of the country’s media ad revenue, compared to the US (29.8 per cent) and Australia (29.3 per cent).

Social media had the largest share of ad expenditure across all media sectors in China, at 40.5 per cent, while bookings to social video sites increased by more than 12 per cent in the first half of this year, a trend replicated in other global markets.

Outdoor media is the second largest media sector in China in terms of advertising expenditure, attracting 13 per cent of the market in the year to date.

In Australia, the outdoor media market is also proving resilient, with strong growth in forward bookings, according to Guideline’s SMI (Standard Media Index).

Chief operating officer of Guideline, David Hahn, said the study of the Chinese media market offered clarity into media and consumer trends in the world’s most populous nation.

“The media marketplace in China is more digitally focused than in other countries and this has seen huge growth in social media, influencer marketing and live streaming within e-commerce platforms so we’re providing great insights to multinational advertisers about how their own markets may evolve,’’ he said.