Spend on advertising: FOI release

Information requested

1. Total spend on advertising in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022
2. In 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 what percentage of Scottish Government ad spend went on:
   (a) digital advertising and of that, what percentage was:
   (b) personalised advertising traded through Real Time Bidding on the open exchange
3. In 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 what percentage of Scottish Government ad spend went to regional and local UK newsbrand publishers:
   (a) in print
   (b) online
4. In 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 what percentage of Scottish Government ad spend went to national newsbrand publishers:
   (a) in print 
   (b) online
5. In 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 what percentage of Scottish Government ad spend went on social media. What percentage of government ad spend went to:
   (a) Google
   (b) Facebook
   (c) other major online platforms

Response

1. Total advertising spend from 2018 to 2022.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
£3,485,172	£4,242,580	£20,511,787	£27,829,652	£12,663,288

2. (a) Total percentage of spend in digital.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
28.40%	36.95%	25.06%	30.50%	32.26%

2. (b) Total percentage of digital spend personalised through Real Time Bidding Exchange.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
9.64%	10.11%	19.30%	17.58%	32.20%

3. (a) Total percentage of spend to regional and local UK newsbrand publishers for print.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
7.92%	3.14%	9.19%	3.79%	2.42%

3. (b) Total percentage of spend to regional and local UK newsbrand publishers for digital.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.33%	0.13%	1.25%	0.09%	0%

4. (a) Total percentage of spend to national UK newsbrand publishers for print.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.66%	1.50%	3.63%	1.73%	3.38%

4. (b) Total percentage of spend to national UK newsbrand publishers for digital.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.28%	1.89%	0.53%	0.34%	0.27%

5. Total percentage of spend on social media.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
10.86%	10.59%	9.40%	12.97%	13.60%

5. (a) Total percentage of spend on Google (Youtube).

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
1.37%	1.82%	0.24%	2.76%	2.56%

5. (b) Total percentage of spend on Facebook. (Facebook 2021 and 2022 spends include Instagram when their billing structures combined).

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
7.49%	6.06%	6.27%	8.11%	9.09%

5. (c) Breakdown of total percentage spend by other major online platforms.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
14.69%	12.41%	9.69%	15.46%	16.11%

Note: We have taken this to mean Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Linkedin, Tiktok, Youtube, Pinterest, Reddit and PingPong. A breakdown of each platform is supplied below.

Total percentage spend on Instagram (Facebook 2021 and 2022 spends include Instagram when their billing structures combined so no spend shown below).

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
1.54%	1.76%	0.06%	0.00%	0.00%

Total percentage spend on Twitter.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.74%	2.37%	2.22%	3.55%	2.95%

Total percentage spend on Snapchat.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.92%	0.33%	0.49%	0.25%	0.59%

Total percentage spend on Linkedin.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.10%	0.07%	0.01%	0.27%	0.03%

Total percentage spend on Tiktok.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.00%	0.00%	0.35%	0.46%	0.89%

Total percentage spend on Youtube.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
1.37%	1.82%	0.24%	2.76%	2.56%

Total percentage spend on Pinterest.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.01%	0.00%

Total percentage spend on Reddit.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
0.00%	0.00%	0.04%	0.05%	0.00%

Total percentage spend on PingPong.

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
2.53%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%

About FOI

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