Charts: Q4 2021 Digital Advertising Spend

The growth in global digital advertising in Q4 2021 for physical products slowed from the same period in 2020. That’s according to Skai, an Israel-based data and marketing-intelligence firm.

Skai’s “Digital Marketing Quarterly Trends Report” is based on “approximately $7 billion in advertising spend, comprising more than 3,000 advertiser and agency accounts across 40 vertical industries and more than 150 countries running on the Skai™ platform.”

The report segregates physical-goods advertising by “Retail Media” (marketplaces and retailer ad platforms), “Paid Search,” and “Paid Social.” Advertising growth slowed for all three categories in Q4 2021 vs. Q4 2020.

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Skai defines “shopping ads” as those in specific shopping formats. According to Skai’s analysis, the percentage of shopping ads on Paid Search and Paid Social for physical goods ranged from 41% to 48% from Q4 2020 through Q4 2021.

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U.S. advertising growth on Google Search was mainly higher in Q4 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

According to “Digital Marketing Report Q4 2021” by Merkle, a U.S.-based customer experience platform, “B2B,” “Nonprofit,” “Retail & Consumer Goods,” and “Travel” all experienced increases in ad spend on Google. The volume of clicks and the cost per click varied by category.

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Merkel’s report includes Q4 year-over-year cumulative U.S. advertising growth on Facebook and Instagram across all categories. Advertising on Facebook from Q4 2014 to Q4 2021 grew by 533%. Instagram’s cumulative growth since Q4 2017 was a whopping 1,100%.