Global kids digital advertising market will be worth $1.7bn by 2021

PwC has released their 2019 Kids Digital Media Report, a follow-up to their groundbreaking 2017 study. The 2019 report estimates that the global kids digital advertising market will be worth $1.7bn by 2021, driven by the dramatic increase in the number of children online.

A staggering 170,000 children go online for the first time every day, driving considerable disruption across the media landscape. As kids’ media and content is increasingly consumed via desktop, mobile and tablet devices, PwC expects brands to move more advertising spend onto these platforms, and shift spend away from traditional (non-digital) channels.

As children become a larger percentage of the daily internet audience, laws to protect them are expected to be passed with greater urgency. These increasing regulatory requirements support a shift in spend towards dedicated kidtech players, who provide privacy-centric solutions to the industry.

Key findings of the report:

• It is estimated that the global kids digital advertising market will continue to grow in excess of 20% p.a. (2018-21), reaching c.$1.7bn by 2021 (equating to 37% of total kids advertising spend)

• Over 40% of total new internet users globally in 2018 were children

• With suggestions that US privacy law for children may be extended to 16 year olds (up from 13 today) and that other countries, such as China and India, are planning to implement similar laws; by 2021 approximately 800m kids could have digital privacy protections (vs. approximately 130m today)

• The rollout of GDPR in Europe (with its ‘GDPR-K’ kids component) has accelerated the understanding of compliance globally beyond major brands and is supporting growth in the emerging kidtech sector

• The biggest winners of kids digital ad spend expansion will be content compliant with kids digital privacy laws, YouTube and VOD/OTT

• Despite the growth of kids digital ad spending, a significant amount of content investment is going into subscription services, which is not reachable by brands

Mark Maitland, Head of Entertainment and Media at PwC commented “It’s clear that the kids media ecosystem is being transformed by digital transition and privacy laws into a very unique landscape. With 170,000 children going online every day around the world, this is an increasingly important topic for every company seeking to reach, market to and engage responsibly with kids audiences." 

Dylan Collins, CEO SuperAwesome stated “The kids digital media sector has become one of the fastest growing and is absolutely unique in its focus on digital privacy. PwC’s report is essential reading for anyone who needs to understand what the next version of the internet will look like”