Digital advertising in the United States witnessed a rebound in 2024, reaching $258.6 billion in revenue —a 14.9% year-over-year increase from 2023 —according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC’s annual “Internet Advertising Revenue Report.”
After experiencing a slowdown in 2023 with only 7.3% growth, the digital advertising market has accelerated significantly, driven in part by the presidential election cycle and Olympic year, both of which have historically led to higher ad spending.
“Despite macroeconomic challenges such as inflation, rising interest rates, and sector job cuts, the U.S. digital ad market remained strong, underscoring its adaptability and long-term stability in an evolving economic landscape,” the report states.
Source: Internet advertising data from IAB / PwC Internet Ad Revenue Report, FY 2024
Digital video emerged as the fastest-growing format with 19.2% year-over-year growth, reaching $62.1 billion and now representing 24% of total ad revenue. Search advertising maintained its position as the industry’s largest segment at $102.9 billion (39.8% market share), growing 15.9% year-over-year—triple the growth rate seen in 2023.
Display advertising rebounded with a 12.4% year-over-year increase to $74.3 billion, compared to just 4% growth in 2023.
Programmatic and Social Media Show Strong Recovery
Programmatic advertising continues to dominate the field, increasing 18% to reach $134.8 billion in 2024. Of this, 61% of revenues are attributed to open real-time bidding (RTB) marketplaces, while 39% came from direct deals via private marketplaces, preferred deals, or automated guaranteed placements.
Social media advertising demonstrated a particularly strong recovery, growing 36.7% to reach $88.8 billion, a substantial increase from the prior year. This growth “signals renewed advertiser confidence in social platforms,” according to the report, driven in part by election spending and “the popularity of commerce and social, alongside work with creators to amplify brand messages.”
Podcast and Retail Media Networks Gain Momentum
Podcast advertising showed notable growth of 26.4% year-over-year, up from 5.5% growth in 2023, reaching $2.4 billion in revenue. This surge reflects the medium’s growing importance for political advertisers ahead of the election and broader shifts in consumer media habits.
Retail media networks—a relatively new but expanding segment of the digital advertising ecosystem—rose 23% to reach $53.7 billion in 2024. This growth “emphasizes the growing prominence of this form as brands prioritize first-party data strategies and commerce-driven advertising in response to evolving privacy regulations,” the report notes.
Source: IAB / PwC Internet Ad Revenue Report, FY 2024
Quarterly Patterns and Revenue Concentration
The report reveals fairly consistent quarterly growth throughout 2024, with Q1 showing the strongest performance at 15.7% year-over-year, followed by Q2 at 15.2%, Q3 at 14.7%, and Q4 at 14.3%. The second half of the year contributed 54% of total annual revenue, the same proportion as in 2023.
Source: IAB / PwC Internet Ad Revenue Report, FY 2024
Revenue concentration shows that the top 10 companies account for 80.8% of digital ad revenue, a 1% increase from 2023. Companies ranked 11-25 saw their share increase to 11% (up 3.1% from 2023), consisting primarily of “evolving social media platforms, streaming and interactive media services, and e-commerce businesses.”
Comparison to Other Media Types
When compared to other advertising media types, internet advertising’s 14.9% growth significantly outpaced all other categories. TV advertising grew by 6.6%, while video games and esports increased by 8.7%. Music, radio, and podcasts collectively grew by 2.8%. B2B advertising rose 3%, and out-of-home saw 4.4% growth. Newspaper and consumer magazine advertising continued its decline, falling 4.7% year-over-year.
Future Industry Trends
The report identifies five key trends shaping the industry’s future:
AI-Driven Advertising Transformation: AI is evolving from operational automation to enabling “full-process transformation, including the ability to generate creative content, make autonomous decisions, and plan campaigns across platforms.”
Privacy-First Strategies: With increasing platform-level restrictions and evolving privacy regulations, brands are pivoting to first-party data strategies, contextual advertising, and secure data collaboration tools like clean rooms.
Streaming Evolution: Ad-supported streaming tiers are expanding available inventory while exerting downward pressure on CPMs. Live sports streaming is accelerating the migration of ad dollars from linear TV, while skinny bundles help counter subscriber churn.
Creator Economy Maturation: Brands are moving from one-off influencer collaborations to long-term ambassador partnerships. Creators are diversifying beyond social media into long-form content, podcasting, newsletters, and direct-to-consumer brands.
Business Model Reinvention: Consumer expectations are driving seamless experiences that integrate discovery, engagement, and purchase. Advertisers are prioritizing channels with measurable business outcomes, with retail media networks emerging as “a cornerstone of this evolution.”
Market Outlook
The IAB and PwC report suggests that despite potential economic headwinds, digital advertising’s trajectory remains strong as it continues to adapt to evolving technologies, consumer behaviors, and privacy frameworks.
“Powered by AI advancements, privacy-first advertising, streaming innovation, creator-driven engagement, and reimagined business models, digital advertising is entering a new era of transformation,” the report concludes. “Companies that can leverage these strategies will be best positioned to lead and thrive in this evolving landscape.”
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
Digital advertising in the United States witnessed a rebound in 2024, reaching $258.6 billion in revenue —a 14.9% year-over-year increase from 2023 —according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC’s annual “Internet Advertising Revenue Report.”
After experiencing a slowdown in 2023 with only 7.3% growth, the digital advertising market has accelerated significantly, driven in part by the presidential election cycle and Olympic year, both of which have historically led to higher ad spending.
“Despite macroeconomic challenges such as inflation, rising interest rates, and sector job cuts, the U.S. digital ad market remained strong, underscoring its adaptability and long-term stability in an evolving economic landscape,” the report states.
Source: Internet advertising data from IAB / PwC Internet Ad Revenue Report, FY 2024
Digital video emerged as the fastest-growing format with 19.2% year-over-year growth, reaching $62.1 billion and now representing 24% of total ad revenue. Search advertising maintained its position as the industry’s largest segment at $102.9 billion (39.8% market share), growing 15.9% year-over-year—triple the growth rate seen in 2023.
Display advertising rebounded with a 12.4% year-over-year increase to $74.3 billion, compared to just 4% growth in 2023.
Programmatic and Social Media Show Strong Recovery
Programmatic advertising continues to dominate the field, increasing 18% to reach $134.8 billion in 2024. Of this, 61% of revenues are attributed to open real-time bidding (RTB) marketplaces, while 39% came from direct deals via private marketplaces, preferred deals, or automated guaranteed placements.
Social media advertising demonstrated a particularly strong recovery, growing 36.7% to reach $88.8 billion, a substantial increase from the prior year. This growth “signals renewed advertiser confidence in social platforms,” according to the report, driven in part by election spending and “the popularity of commerce and social, alongside work with creators to amplify brand messages.”
Podcast and Retail Media Networks Gain Momentum
Podcast advertising showed notable growth of 26.4% year-over-year, up from 5.5% growth in 2023, reaching $2.4 billion in revenue. This surge reflects the medium’s growing importance for political advertisers ahead of the election and broader shifts in consumer media habits.
Retail media networks—a relatively new but expanding segment of the digital advertising ecosystem—rose 23% to reach $53.7 billion in 2024. This growth “emphasizes the growing prominence of this form as brands prioritize first-party data strategies and commerce-driven advertising in response to evolving privacy regulations,” the report notes.
Source: IAB / PwC Internet Ad Revenue Report, FY 2024
Quarterly Patterns and Revenue Concentration
The report reveals fairly consistent quarterly growth throughout 2024, with Q1 showing the strongest performance at 15.7% year-over-year, followed by Q2 at 15.2%, Q3 at 14.7%, and Q4 at 14.3%. The second half of the year contributed 54% of total annual revenue, the same proportion as in 2023.
Source: IAB / PwC Internet Ad Revenue Report, FY 2024
Revenue concentration shows that the top 10 companies account for 80.8% of digital ad revenue, a 1% increase from 2023. Companies ranked 11-25 saw their share increase to 11% (up 3.1% from 2023), consisting primarily of “evolving social media platforms, streaming and interactive media services, and e-commerce businesses.”
Comparison to Other Media Types
When compared to other advertising media types, internet advertising’s 14.9% growth significantly outpaced all other categories. TV advertising grew by 6.6%, while video games and esports increased by 8.7%. Music, radio, and podcasts collectively grew by 2.8%. B2B advertising rose 3%, and out-of-home saw 4.4% growth. Newspaper and consumer magazine advertising continued its decline, falling 4.7% year-over-year.
Future Industry Trends
The report identifies five key trends shaping the industry’s future:
Market Outlook
The IAB and PwC report suggests that despite potential economic headwinds, digital advertising’s trajectory remains strong as it continues to adapt to evolving technologies, consumer behaviors, and privacy frameworks.
“Powered by AI advancements, privacy-first advertising, streaming innovation, creator-driven engagement, and reimagined business models, digital advertising is entering a new era of transformation,” the report concludes. “Companies that can leverage these strategies will be best positioned to lead and thrive in this evolving landscape.”
Get the full report here.