Analysis from the UK’s largest native advertising platform, ADYOULIKE, for the period before, during and after the initial stages of lockdown reveals key ad spend trends.

The second barometer report, following an initial report looking at the early period of lockdown, clearly shows a V-Shaped impact of COVID-19 on the overall digital advertising ecosystem.

ADYOULIKE, which integrates directly with the UK’s leading news publishers, including titles such as The Guardian, The Independent, The Mirror, The Sun, Daily Mail, The Telegraph & more – and has Supply Side Platform connections with all the major Demand Side Platforms has analysed ad spend by vertical across their Supply network for the period February to the end of June, 2020.

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Key Trends Revealed:

1. The V-Shaped impact of COVID-19 can be seen (above).
2. With most sectors reopening, spend increased across the board has begun to open back up for most sectors.
3. Average CPMs declined considerably April to mid-May at the height of lockdown.
4. Increased CPMs from Mid-May to above pre-lockdown levels in June as lockdown eases and competition increases. Digital Advertising spend was above pre-lockdown levels for the first time mid to end of June for the first time since Mid-March.
5. Big increases in Hobbies, Home & Garden, Pets, Religion, Food & Drink – highlighting the fact more home-based activities during lockdown.
6. Big drops in Travel, Health & Fitness & Sports – areas where restrictions are still in place.
7. Automotive ad spend has increased considerably since early June as car dealerships reopen.

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Commenting, Francis Turner, CRO and Co-Founder ADYOULIKE:

“The data shows a clear V-Shaped pattern in terms of adspend for Q2. We have seen significant improvements across the Open Market Place (OMP) since early June, when the government announced an easing of lockdown. In many sectors we are seeing a return, or even an increase, to pre-Covid adspend numbers.

“This is reassuring and hopefully points to an overall recovery and uptick in digital ad spend as we go into Q3 and Q4.  There are still significant gaps in adspend, particularly in Travel, Health & Fitness, and Sport, which have traditionally been significant advertisers.

“If those sectors resume spending and a second wave of lockdowns can be avoided, there is a lot for the UK digital advertising market to be tentatively more optimistic about than everyone was two months ago.”

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