Microsoft will surpass Yahoo in digital ad market share this year, according to a new report from eMarketer. This comes as Yahoo just reported a disappointing quarter, with much of the disappointment coming specifically from its display advertising business.
“Our top priority is revenue growth and by that measure, we are not satisfied with our Q2 results,” said CEO Marissa Mayer in her obligatory press release quote, typically reserved for more positive statements.
eMarketer says, “Though Yahoo’s ad revenues will be back in the black this year, increasing its global digital ad revenues by 2.7% after a decline of 2.1% in 2013 to reach $3.53 billion, the company’s share of the $140.15 billion digital advertising market will fall from 2.86% to 2.52%. At the same time, Microsoft will grow its net worldwide ad revenues by more than 20% over 2013 to reach $3.56 billion, eMarketer estimates, accounting for 2.54% of the market—just enough to surpass Yahoo for the first time.”
By the firm’s projections, Facebook will remain significantly above Microsoft, with Google still completely dominating, of course.
“Display remains an area of investment and transition,” Mayer told investors. “In Q2, we saw display revenue decline, further highlighting the fact that we need to work faster to ameliorate the negative trends. I believe we can and will do better moving forward. Overall, I remain confident in Yahoo’s future, our strategy, and our return to long-term growth.”
As of the time of this writing, Yahoo shares are down 4.83% in afternoon trading.
Image via eMarketer