Pwc Forecasts Dramatic Desktop Search Declines

Paid-search campaigns running on desktop and laptops are estimated to decline 3.7% to $14.7 billion by 2021, but the combined share of total Internet advertising held by wired and mobile search will be much higher -- at more than 50% of the total revenue, according to data released Wednesday. PwC's 18th annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2017-2021 details the free fall of paid search delivered through fixed-line broadband and the rise of paid search on mobile devices. Paid-search advertising for desktop fell 34.4% to take 24.5%, or $17.8 billion, of total U.S. Internet advertising revenue in 2016. Google dominates in most global markets, but in the U.S. the company faces more competition, notably from Microsoft's Bing, according to the report. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) to better anticipate users' search will become another area of focus in the next five years and make players like Apple more sophisticated in search.