GroupM has downgraded its U.S. and global ad spending forecasts for 2014, reinforcing a view that the ad business is getting tougher. But the media buyer sees a small pickup in 2015.
In the U.S., GroupM sees ad spending growing 3.1% to $170 billion, down from a mid-year forecast of 3.4%. For 2015, GroupM expects spending growth to hit 3.9% in 2015, with digital making the biggest contribution.
Globally, spending is forecast to rise 3.9% in 2014 to $513 billion. At midyear, GroupM had said it expected a 4.5% increase. For 2015, GroupM forecasts a 4.9% gain that would bring global spending to $538 billion.
Digital media is taking a bigger part of ad budgets, GroupM said, gaining about two points of share every year. Digital’s share was 24.7% in 2014 and is expected to rise to 27.6%, GroupM said.
GroupM said that for the first time, TV's share might be falling from a high of 43%.
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