The ad market grew 2.8% during December compared to a year earlier, according to Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker – the former Standard Media Index. It brought 2023 to a close with nine consecutive months of growth in the ad market. Overall, Guideline says the total ad market managed to squeak out a half percent of growth last year, compared to 2022.
The biggest month for growth was July when Guideline says ad billings increased 5.9%. That compared to a half-point increase in April. Despite the fluctuations, the monthly data can be seen as a positive sign that a pullback in advertising spending appears to be waning.
Even as the year-end numbers climbed, Guideline’s monthly index of advertising ended the year with a month-to-month drop. The index was 145.66 last month. That compared to a 159.60 in November, or an 8.7% decline.
Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker shows digital advertising accounted for two-thirds of advertising spending in December. The data also shows it was categories other than the top ten where most of spending gains occurred last month.
Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker is a composite monthly index from Standard Media Index, designed to provide a real-world measure of U.S. ad spending, based on actual invoiced media buys – including on radio – from the major agencies and their clients. As such, it is mostly representative of spending by larger national advertisers.
See Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker HERE.