Five Key Takeaways From Mary Meeker’s 2019 Internet Trends Report

July 18, 2019

Bond Capital founder Mary Meeker is back with the 2019 comprehensive Internet Trends Report for 2019! The 333-slide deck looked back at every important internet trend in the last year as well as analyzed what these trends tell us to expect for the year ahead. It touches on everything from accelerating internet ad spend in the US to the growth of digital delivery services in Latin America.

Meeker points out that consumers, businesses, and regulators are increasingly drinking from the same data firehose & management challenges continue to rise for all parties. Broad awareness of these challenges can be the first step in driving change. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant trends in the current digital landscape. (You can find the full deck at the bottom of this post.)

Our Top 5 Takeaways

1. More than half of the world (3.8 billion people) were internet users last year, up from 3.6 billion in 2017. Sales of smartphones – which provide the majority of people across the globe with internet access – are declining as most of the world that is going to be online already is.

2. Digital ad spending in the US accelerated, up 22% in 2018. Some 62% of all digital display ad buying is for programmatic ads, which will continue to grow.

3. The average daily time spent watching digital video has nearly doubled in the past 5 years, making up 28% of video time vs. television.

4. Customer acquisition costs are going up which Meeker deems unsustainable because in some cases it surpasses the long-term revenue those customers will bring. She suggests cheaper ways to bring in customers, like free trials and unpaid tiers.

5. Americans are spending more time with digital media than ever: 6.3 hrs a day in 2018, up 7% from the year before. Most of the growth comes from mobile and other connected devices, while time spent on computers declines. People are also getting more concerned about time spent online, as more than a quarter of US adults say they’re “almost constantly online.”

 

China’s Digital Boom

The report also highlighted the explosion of China’s short-form videos and super apps. Most notable were the short-form videos as a key driver of internet usage growth in China, leading user and usage growth across all app categories. Users spent a total of nearly 600 million hours per day watching short-form videos on mobile in April of 2019, more than in any other category.

The Chinese government has also gone digital and is increasingly offering public services through in-house apps. The list of tasks that citizens can complete on their phones includes applying for visas, paying utility bills, virtually queuing up at hospitals, renewing a driver’s license, and many more that can save people the hassle of hopping from one government office to another.

Check out the full report below for a useful walk-through of some global trends – in how the internet is maturing and how the world is interconnected in new ways.

Want to learn more about AcuityAds and how we are applying current trends to make the consumer/marketer relationship more seamless? Contact us today!