Why is it getting harder for advertisers to get customers' attention?

Budgets down 15 percent

The latest study by Gartner highlights a clear trend, reports MarketingWeek: marketing budgets are at an all-time low, leading to noticeable pressure on CMOs. Marketing budgets have fallen to 7.7% of total company revenue in 2024. This figure represents a decrease of 15 % compared to the previous year.
  
  
  
Media budgets are digital

Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has published its sixth annual global report, reports Marketing Communication News. The study offers insights into marketers' priorities and plans to improve ROI in 2024 and beyond. One of the report's key findings is that marketers continue to view social media, search engine marketing, online/mobile video and online/mobile display as the most effective channels for ROI. But without a holistic cross-media strategy, they could be missing out on key revenue opportunities.

Search costs on the rise

LocalIQ's latest report on the search advertising landscape 2024 sheds light on the current trends and challenges facing marketing managers. One key trend is the rise in search ad costs, while at the same time conversion rates are falling. This is reflected in the data, which shows that the average conversion rate is 6.96%, with significant differences between different industries. Particularly noticeable is the 32.40% drop in industries such as financial and insurance services, while fashion and careers have seen an increase of over 80%.
  
  
  
EU vs Booking

The EU Commission recently classified Booking.com as a gatekeeper, which means that the platform is subject to stricter regulations and additional monitoring. This decision was welcomed by the European hotel association Hotrec, which hopes that this will put an end to the numerous unfair practices and infringements by Booking. Booking now has six months to comply with the gatekeeper requirements, which means, among other things, more choice and freedom for consumers and fairer conditions for hotels and vacation rental providers.

Microsoft stops advertising

Microsoft, which is keen to tap into new sources of revenue, toyed with the idea of integrating ads into the Start menu. However, these plans were met with fierce criticism from users. Many argued that they had paid for the Windows software and would therefore not tolerate advertising. Microsoft responded to the criticism by removing the word "advertising" from the descriptions and replacing it with more neutral terms such as "app promotions".