Online Adspends 2023

Online advertising grew by 5% in 2023, Ad spends reached nearly CZK 60 billion

In 2023, expenditures on online advertising reached nearly CZK 60 billion, growing by 5% year-on-year. The growth was most significantly contributed to by display advertising (+6%) and search advertising (+3%). From the perspective of the method of trading advertising space, programmatic buying of display advertising grew by 7%. These data come from research on the performance of internet advertising conducted for the Association for Internet Development (SPIR) by the Median agency. Given the unprecedented changes in online advertising, which Google repeatedly announces in connection with the planned discontinuation of support for third-party cookies in its globally dominant Chrome web browser, SPIR does not publish a growth forecast for 2024.

„In 2023, we faced an economic downturn and double-digit inflation, and therefore, we only expected a modest increase in online investments, which the numbers from the advertising performance research confirm. Although the economic situation is improving, online advertising will experience a turbulent period this year due to the announced end of support for third-party cookies, making it impossible for the first time in the history of this measurement to predict further development as we have in past years”, commented Michal Hanák, chairman of the SPIR presidency.

„The approach of the dominant company, Google, regarding the Chrome browser is rightly criticized by SPIR as well as other associations including, for example, IAB Tech Lab. The current steps taken by Google in relation to third-party cookies create huge uncertainty in the advertising market for publishers and advertisers who still do not know all the details of what the solution will look like after the support for third-party cookies is definitively ended”, added Michal Feix, vice-chairman of the SPIR presidency.

The research was conducted in January and February 2024 and involved internet operators, media, digital and specialized agencies, advertising networks, and direct advertisers. The research methodology and its modifications for the year 2022 are described in detail here.

Development of Total Expenditures on Internet Advertising

The sum of ratecard and net prices represents the volume of internet advertising from advertisers amounting to CZK 59.5 billion. This marks the highest investment to date, representing a 5% increase compared to the previous year and continues the continuously rising trend in the use of online advertising.

Growth estimates have so far been traditionally conservative for research participants, with actual growth rates usually being higher than forecasts. The growth estimate from 2022 for 2023 was historically the lowest, primarily due to the unfavorable economic situation and the impacts of inflation, and reality has shown that this was indeed the case. A 7% growth was expected for 2023, but the data shows a growth of 5%.


Vývoj celkových výdajů do internetové inzerce v mld. Kč Source: SPIR, MEDIAN, March 2024
– mix of ratecard and net prices

Share of Individual Forms of Internet Advertising in 2023

The largest portion of advertising expenditures is allocated to comprehensive (display) advertising (42.2 billion CZK in combined prices). Do display reklamy je započítána i reklama v obsahových sítích (zejména sítě Seznam Sklik, Google Ads a Facebook), RTB formou obchodovaná reklama a nativní reklama. Display advertising includes advertising in content networks (especially networks like Seznam Sklik, Google Ads, and Facebook), advertising traded in RTB format, and native advertising. The second most used form of advertising is search advertising, into which advertisers invested 16.1 billion CZK in net prices. For catalog entries and classified advertising, media declared revenues of 1.2 billion CZK in ratecard prices.


Výkon jednotlivých forem internetové reklamy v roce 2023 v mil. KčSource: SPIR, MEDIAN, March 2024
* mix of ratecard and net prices
** net prices
others in ratecard prices

From the total display advertising, video advertising constituted a 31% share (13.0 billion CZK) increasing by 18% year-on-year. Native advertising made up a 12% share (4.9 billion CZK), increasing by 22% year-on-year.


Rozdělení display reklamy podle formátu v roce 2022 Source: SPIR, MEDIAN, March 2024
– mix of ratecard and net prices

The share of mobile display advertising (advertising on mobile devices and advertising targeted at mobile devices) from the total display advertising was 50% (21.0 billion CZK), increasing by 18% year-on-year.

Programmatic advertising, which relates to space in advertising content networks and the RTB (Real-Time Bidding) method of sale, together constituted a 72% share of the entire display advertising (30.4 billion CZK) and increased by 7% year-on-year.
Programmatic display includes advertising performance of content networks (such as Seznam Sklik, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, and others) and also the performance of advertising through DSP/SSP systems.


Rozdělení display reklamy podle formy nákupu 2023 Source: SPIR, MEDIAN, March 2024
– mix of ratecard and net prices

Performance of Individual Forms of Internet Advertising

Long-term growth is clearly evident in display advertising and search advertising. In display advertising, all its components are growing, but mobile advertising has seen the most significant increase.


Výkon jednotlivých forem internetové reklamy v mil. Kč Source: SPIR, MEDIAN, March 2024
* mix of ratecard and net prices
**net prices
- others in ratecard prices

Performance of Individual Forms of Internet Advertising in Thousands of CZK

thous. CZK 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Display * 9 204 844 9 967 379 10 481 447 14 164 675 16 400 893 20 139 248 24 207 282 26 998 476 32 577 960 39 971 065 42 205 098
Paid Search ** 2 901 804 3 360 886 3 656 319 4 663 124 5 857 274 7 321 593 9 005 559 11 273 892 14 317 843 15 606 449 16 059 742
Classifieds and
directories		 1 200 788 1 256 196 906 356 899 652 1 052 715 1 124 984 1 152 238 1 230 314 1 361 078 1 232 053 1 209 881
TOTAL 13 307 436 14 584 461 15 044 122 19 727 451 23 310 883 28 585 825 34 365 080 39 502 681 48 256 881 56 809 567 59 522 255
* mix of ratecard and net prices
** net prices
- others in ratecard prices

Year-on-Year Changes in Different Forms of Internet Advertising in 2023

Display advertising in 2023 recorded a 6% growth. Search advertising last year increased by 3%. Catalogs and classified ads experienced a 2% decline last year. Overall, internet advertising in 2023 grew by 5%.

Growth estimates are annually conservative for research participants, and actual real growths are usually higher than the cautious expectations. The estimate from 2022 for 2023 was historically the lowest and was indeed fulfilled. The expectation for 2023 was a 7% growth, but the data shows a 5% increase.


Meziroční změna jednotlivých forem internetové reklamy v roce 2023 Source: SPIR, MEDIAN, March 2024
- positive % values mean growth

In the interest of objectivity and protection of sensitive data, the Median agency was commissioned to interrogate and process the results. The research was conducted during January and February 2023, and was based on the current annual financial statements of individual entities. The performance of all types of advertising was based on the declared performance of individual content providers, agencies, direct advertisers and ad network operators.

More information about the used terminology and a description of the methodology.

Press Release - Online Adspends 2023
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