Global Ad Spend To Outpace Economic Growth; UK Election Ad Spend Figures; Streaming Giants Challenge New Canadian Legislation

On today’s news digest: Global Ad Spend To Outpace Economic Growth; UK Election Ad Spend Figures; Streaming Giants Challenge New Canadian Legislation  

Worldwide ad spend is on track to outpace global economic growth this year, according to a mid-year forecast by dentsu and IMF data: ad spend is expected to rise by 5%, compared to a 3.2% increase for real GDP. Leading the way – unsurprisingly – will be digital ad spend, expected to grow 7.4%, accounting for almost 60% of ad budgets globally. Interestingly, digital ad spend is increasing at the fastest rate in the finance sector, closely followed by media, travel and pharma.  

Zooming in on the UK, let’s look into some of the social media ad spend figures from the UK general election. According to figures published on Thursday, Labour spent £2.9m on its social advertising efforts, while the Conservatives spent £1.7m over their six-week campaign. The Labour party was the top buyer of ad space on Meta, being responsible for 46% of all political ad spend on the platform since 22nd May. Labour’s spending on Meta rose throughout their campaigning, however, it slowed in the final week leading up to the vote. Contrastingly, the Conservatives held back then accelerated ad spend on the platform significantly during the final week with the aim of giving their campaign a last minute boost by targeting people who were unsure where to cast their vote. 

In Canada, streaming giants such as Netflix, Disney, and Paramount are challenging new legislation from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) which obligates them to contribute in paying for local news. Raised through a 5% revenue tax increase, the funding would be used for areas of the broadcasting system deemed to be in immediate need, such as local news or indigenous content. On behalf of the streaming companies, the Motion Picture Association has filed applications in federal court to appeal the rules and request a judicial review. The decision fails to reveal an appropriate basis for their payment, the association claims. It maintains: “the CRTC acted unreasonably in compelling foreign online undertakings to contribute monies to support news production.” 

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