Commercial online advertising is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to deliver promotional messages to consumers. This includes banner ads, pop-up ads, email marketing, and other forms of digital marketing. Commercial online advertising is a rapidly growing industry, with spending on digital advertising growing from $22.9 billion in 2013 to $59.6 billion in 2018.1
The rise of commercial online advertising has been driven by the growth of the Internet and the increasing use of digital devices such as smartphones and tablets. The number of people using the Internet has grown from 1.6 billion in 2000 to 3.4 billion in 2015,2 and the number of people using mobile devices has grown from 1 billion in 2011 to 2.6 billion in 2016.3 The growth of commercial online advertising has also been driven by advances in technology, which have made it easier for advertisers to target their messages to specific audiences and to track the results of their campaigns.
The commercial online advertising industry is dominated by a few large companies, including Google, Facebook, and Yahoo!. These companies account for more than two-thirds of all digital ad spending.4 Google is the largest player in the market, with a market share of 31%.5 Facebook is the second largest player, with a market share of 22%.5 Yahoo! is the third largest player, with a market share of 7%.5
The commercial online advertising market is highly competitive, with companies vying for attention from consumers who are bombarded with hundreds or even thousands of messages every day. In order to stand out from the competition, advertisers must create compelling ads that are targeted to specific audiences and delivered through effective channels such as search engine marketing or social media marketing. Advertisers must also continually test and optimize their campaigns in order to improve results.
The commercial online advertising industry is subject to various regulatory constraints, including privacy laws and laws prohibiting certain types of marketing practices such as spamming. In addition, some countries have implemented taxes on digital advertising, which has led some companies to reduce their spending on digital advertising or shift their spending to other countries where taxes are lower. Despite these challenges, the industry is expected to continue to grow at a rapid pace in the coming years as more companies embrace digital marketing as a key part of their marketing strategy.
