Advertisers are spending big on digital and they're not slowing down. According to a forecast released by eMarketer and Starcom MediaVest on Wednesday, digital ad spending will increase 13% to $117.6 billion globally this year, accounting for 22.7% of all ad spending. Next year, digital's share of ad spend is expected to reach nearly a full quarter, 24.4%.
Within digital, the division seeing the biggest growth is, of course, mobile. While still less than 12% of total digital ad spend -- spending will be just $15.8 billion globally this year -- that marks a 79.7% increase over last year. According to forecast figures, 60.7% of the global population now has access to a mobile phone, up 20% from 2008. About 20% of the global population has a smartphone, up from just 1.5% in 2008.
Collectively, digital is helping to lift the entire ad industry, which is expected to increase revenues by 2.8% globally to $517 billion. The growth may be surprising given the state of the global economy, but it actually marks a slowdown from 2012, when ad spending increased 4.4% year-over-year. Companies with a large share of digital and especially mobile advertising spend -- Google, Facebook and Amazon -- are poised to benefit.