Paid search and untargeted banner advertising may be so yesterday, according to Borrell Associates 2014 and 2015 local advertising forecast.
These two digital ad formats are forecast to fall 4 percent (paid search) and 13 percent (untargeted banner advertising). There is good news, however, for targeted display advertising, as it is expected to take the local marketplace by storm. The report indicates that by the end of 2015, one of every five dollars spend on local advertising will be spent on targeted banners. Online advertising on the whole will grow a whopping 44 percent.
"The future we all knew was coming has shown up," said Corey Elliott, director of research. "The days of saying things like 'mobile is the next big thing' and 'targeted digital ads are going to be big' are over. In the next two years, we will see a tremendous growth in these ad formats, eclipsing any gains in any other media - and even taking away a bit from other digital formats."
While the report doesn't paint the rosiest picture for traditional media spend (print and broadcast), Borrell Associates does expect the declines in those areas will level out, but not grow.
Borrell's forecasts are based on an assessment of U.S. ad spending during the first half of 2014. The company focuses on the $104.0 billion spend by locally based businesses across 3,000 U.S. counties.