The digital advertising market in Bulgaria has grown by 38% in a year – Stara Zagora
The net volume of digital advertising in Bulgaria in 2021 is BGN 198.9 million (more than EUR 100 million), according to the traditional AdEx survey conducted by IAB Bulgaria. This is an increase of nearly 38% compared to the previous year. This growth is ahead of the European average reported by IAB Europe – 30.5% year-on-year.
It is also the largest since the study was conducted in Bulgaria. The trend for Europe is similar, where the growth of the digital advertising market is comparable only to the pre-crisis year 2008 (in Bulgaria, the AdEx Report has been made since 2010).
Investments in Bulgarian publishers are BGN 55 million. This is an increase of 33.6% year-on-year.
“For the first time, net investments in digital advertising in Bulgaria they cross the psychological border of 100 million euros. This growth of nearly 40% ranks the country in the top 5 in terms of growth of medium markets in the low union.
The growth of investments in local publishers – nearly 34%. This is an important sign of advertisers’ trust in the Bulgarian media,” said Chavdar Dimov, market research manager at Economedia and head of the IAB Bulgaria research committee.
The Display advertising segment retains the largest share of the total digital advertising market – 69%, which is two points less than last year. However, all show a growth of 21.7% compared to 2020. Investments in video formats grew by 25%, thus occupying 43% of the largest category in our market.
As a share of display advertising, social networks account for a 43% share of it – up from 38% share in 2020. This remains below the low market average.
The largest percentage of investments in digital advertising are made through automated (programmatic) solutions – nearly 78% of the total market volume.
The spent partnership with talents and influencers is growing significantly – by 143% on an annual basis and reaches BGN 6.1 million.
About the AdEx Survey:
AdEx is the only study that represents the net volume of investments in digital advertising in Bulgaria. Since 2010 so far, search tracks the net market in the main categories of internet advertising – display, search, , native and PR, influencer marketing, etc. AdEx evaluates local investments in Facebook, YouTube and Google search. and for this purpose IAB Bulgaria invites the participation of publishers and advertising agencies. The partner of the survey this year is IPSOS Bulgaria – one of the largest agencies for marketing research in the global computer. The Bulgarian wave of the survey is also included in the AdEx Benchmark Survey of IAB Europe, with which the organization presents the overall picture of the European digital advertising market.
About Interactive Advertising Bureau Bulgaria (IAB Bulgaria)
The IAB is the largest global association of media, agencies and technology companies responsible for digital business. There are local IAB organizations in 46 countries on 6 continents. Companies from all over the world are involved in the development and implementation of standards in online business and work to develop the digital industry, personal data security and e-policies, while also implementing and assisting the Commission, the EU Council and the US Senate. Among the members of the global IAB organization are Google, Facebook, Disney, LinkedIn, AT&T and others. Interactive Advertising Bureau Bulgaria (IAB Bulgaria) is a licensed representative of the IAB for Bulgaria since 2009.