Total US Ad Spending to See Largest Increase Since 2004

Total media ad spending in the US in 2014 will see its largest increase in a decade, according to new figures from eMarketer.

On the strength of gains in mobile and TV advertising, total ad investments will jump 5.3% to reach $180.12 billion, achieving 5% growth for the first time since 2004, when ad spending increased 6.7%. Mobile will lead the 2014 rise in total media ad spending in the US, and advertisers will spend 83.0% more on tablets and smartphones than they did in 2013 -- an increase of $8.04 billion.

By the end of 2014, mobile will represent nearly 10% of all media ad spending, surpassing newspapers, magazines and radio for the first time to become the third-largest individual advertising venue, only trailing TV and desktops/laptops.

Though investments in TV advertising will rise just 3.3%, advertisers will spend $2.19 billion more on the medium than they did in 2013, making it the second-leading category in terms of year-over-year dollar growth. Strong, steady growth in mobile advertising will push digital ads to represent nearly 30% of all US ad spending in 2014. Advertisers will invest more than $50 billion in digital channels in 2014 for the first time, an increase of 17.7% over 2013. Just over one-third of that will come from mobile, but by 2018, mobile will account for more than 70% of digital ad spending.