Advertising Spend Via Digital Assistants To Hit $12 Billion by 2021, Says Juniper

Companies will spend more than $12 billion per year on advertising via digital assistants by 2021, said a Tuesday Juniper Research report. It said use of digital assistants such as Alexa, Cortana and Siri on smart devices will provide paid search opportunities in the coming years as they expand from integration in smartphones and PCs to connected homes and cars. Juniper expects digital assistants to offer monetization opportunities from targeted voice searches, with data on search and location history, shopping habits and demographic information most valuable. But many consumers are likely to avoid the technology for privacy and security reasons, Juniper said. Digital assistants will need to “balance the need for accurate data with consumers’ privacy needs,” said analyst James Moar, and “this will drive changes in how digital assistants are programmed” to ensure data is secure and under users’ control.