Google's Ad Revenue Rose by 5.9% to $237.8 Billion in 2023, the Second Smallest Growth in the Past Two Decades

February 18, 8:11 am

Brands and marketers worldwide have spent a whopping $3 trillion on digital ads in the past five years, helping the largest players in the market, like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, to more than double their ad revenues. Although Google remains the king of the digital advertising landscape, the tech giant's ad revenue growth has significantly slowed down.

According to data presented by AltIndex.com, Google's advertising revenue increased by 5.9% year-over-year and hit $237.8 billion in 2023, the second smallest growth in the past two decades.

Google Saw 10x Smaller Ad Revenue Growth than TikTok and 4x Smaller than Amazon

Last year, the world's ten largest digital advertisers, Google, Facebook, Amazon, TikTok, Tencent, Microsoft, Baidu, JD.com, Apple and LinkedIn, grossed over $492 billion. Google alone made almost half that figure, bringing in $237.8 billion from digital ads.

And while Google's ad revenue was twice that of Facebook, the second-largest player in the digital advertising market, other companies saw much bigger revenue growth. According to Statista and Alphabet data, Google's advertising revenue rose by only 5.9% last year, down from the 7.1% growth reported in 2022. In comparison, Facebook's ad revenue jumped by 16% in 2023, while Amazon and TikTok saw even bigger growth rates, with their ad revenues growing by 24% and 55%, respectively.

That means Google's ad revenue growth was ten times smaller than that of TikTok, four times smaller than Amazon's, and only one-third of the growth rate reported by Facebook.

Moreover, this was the company's second smallest growth in the past two decades after 2020, when brands and marketers cut their advertising budgets due to the pandemic. Statistics show Google's ad revenue had grown by an average of 20% per year before COVID-19 hit, with 2008, 2010, and 2011 being the best years. Before that, the annual ad revenue growth rate was even higher, from an impressive 56% in 2007 to a whopping 246% in 2023.

Google's Ad Revenue to Grow by 35% and hit $340 Billion by 2027

Although 2023 brought an unexpectedly low annual growth rate, Google's ad revenue is still projected to increase significantly in the following years. According to a Statista survey, the tech giant will see its ad revenue jump by 35% and hit over $340 billion by 2027.

In comparison, Microsoft will see around 30% growth, with its ad revenue rising to $16.3 billion in the next three years. Amazon's and LinkedIn's advertising revenue is forecasted to jump by 60% and 75% in this period.

Although eight of the ten largest digital advertisers will see double and triple-digit ad revenue growth by 2027, none can compete with TikTok, the company with the fastest-growing ad revenue globally. The short-form video app is expected to bring in almost $54b billion from advertising in 2027, or 198% more than last year. That means TikTok will see three times bigger ad revenue growth than Amazon and LinkedIn and five times bigger than Google or Microsoft.

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