IAB and PwC report on US digital ad sales in 2023: total revenue grew 7.3% YoY to $225B, digital video grew 10.6% to $52.1B, and digital audio grew 18.9% to $7B
Hana Yoo / AdExchanger :
Context & Ripple Effects
US digital advertising entered 2023 after growth had cooled markedly: the prior annual report put 2022 expansion at 10.8%, following 2021’s 35% jump, while platform and publisher concentration had already increased in the earlier boom. The 2022 slowdown makes the 2023 results a useful read on where ad budgets resumed growing rather than simply a continuation of the pandemic-era surge.
The mix also matters. Digital video is expanding from a far larger base than audio, while audio builds on an earlier rapid rise in podcast advertising, suggesting advertisers are extending spending across more digital formats.
First-order effects
- IAB and PwC’s reported $225B total confirms that US digital advertising returned to growth in 2023, giving publishers, platforms, and ad-tech firms a larger revenue pool after the prior year’s deceleration.
- Video’s $52.1B revenue and audio’s $7B revenue make those formats faster-growing components of the market, strengthening their case for advertiser budget allocation.
Second-order effects
- Publishers and platforms with scalable video and audio inventory have more reason to package those formats alongside broader digital campaigns; rivals with weaker format offerings face greater pressure to close the inventory and measurement gap.
- As video takes a larger share of digital ad revenue, competition for premium video inventory and audience attention can intensify, while audio’s faster percentage growth may draw more sales and measurement investment despite its smaller base.
Third-order effects
- If format-level growth continues to outpace the overall market, digital ad buying is likely to become more video-led while audio develops as a meaningful complementary channel rather than a standalone replacement for larger formats.
- The results reinforce a long-running shift of advertising value toward digital distribution and the platforms or publishers that control scarce, measurable audience inventory; the degree of further concentration remains uncertain.
The trend: US advertising budgets are continuing to migrate toward measurable digital formats, with video scaling at mass-market levels and audio growing quickly from a smaller base.