This Wednesday and Thursday, the online advertising industry will meet in Cologne at the Dmexco trade fair. In the course of this, the Online Marketers' Circle (OVK) in the Federal Association of the Digital Economy publishes fresh figures on the development of the industry. Usually, the advertising market follows the economy strongly and is susceptible to disruption in an uncertain situation. 2022 was therefore marked by low growth with the energy crisis and the Russian war against Ukraine. And for 2023, the OVK had also issued a low growth forecast of 4.6 percent in its main area, digital advertising (advertising banners and videos), in the spring.
Gregor Brunner
Editor in business.
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Now the OVK is correcting this forecast upwards by one percentage point to 5.6 percent, despite the poor economic outlook. Sales are expected to reach around 5.5 billion euros by the end of this year. "In the meantime, customers have come to terms with the situation. There is more predictability again," says OVK chairman Rasmus Giese in an interview with the F.A.Z.
Advertising is often the first item that companies reduce when they need to save. But that's changing when it comes to online advertising, Giese says. Analogue campaigns are being discontinued because it is difficult to measure their success. "Digital advertising, on the other hand, provides immediate metrics such as clicks or sales, so advertisers know better what they're spending their money on."
It is also noteworthy that, according to the OVK, revenues in online advertising are likely to exceed revenues in printed advertising for the first time. In 2022, printed ads still generated 5.3 billion euros in sales, and the trend is falling. Now, digital advertising is still fighting for the crown with search engine advertising, as Google's business model. In 2022, it was even larger, with sales of around 5.4 billion euros in Germany. In 2023, however, the battle still seems open.