Digital ad impressions up 5.4x since 2021; services sector leads with 45% share in 2025: Report

Digital advertising in India recorded significant growth in 2025, with ad impressions rising more than five times compared with 2021, according to a report by TAM AdEx.

On an indexed basis, digital ad impressions increased from 100 in 2021 to 545 in 2025. Year-on-year, impressions in 2025 expanded by over 2.5 times compared with 2024, reflecting accelerated growth in digital advertising activity.

Quarterly trends also showed steady growth through the year. In 2025, the October-December quarter recorded a 15% increase compared with the January-March quarter.

The Services sector remained the leading contributor to digital advertising, accounting for 45% of total ad impressions in 2025. It was followed by Education with a 7% share, while Personal Accessories, Computers and Retail each accounted for 6%.

Banking, Finance and Investment contributed 5%, while Personal Care/Personal Hygiene also held a 5% share. Auto accounted for 4%, while Personal Healthcare and Textiles/Clothing each held 2%.

Together, the top 10 sectors accounted for 86% of total ad impressions.

Among categories, Ecom-Online Shopping led with a 12% share of ad impressions. Other prominent categories included Ecom-Other Services, Ecom-Clothing/Textile/Fashion, Ecom-Education, Ecom-Media/Entertainment/Social Media, Software, Cars, Retail Outlets-Clothing/Textiles/Fashion, Readymade Garments and AV Auxiliaries. The top 10 categories together accounted for 42% of ad impressions.

The report said more than 187K advertisers were active on digital platforms during 2025. Among the top advertisers, Flipkart.com and Amazon Online India each accounted for 3% of ad impressions, followed by Adobe Software India and Hindustan Unilever with 2% each.

Reliance Retail, Fabindia, Myntra Designs, Razorpay Software, Nexxbase Marketing (NMPL) and Maruti Suzuki India each accounted for about 1%.

The top 10 advertisers together contributed 15% of digital ad impressions.

Among brands, Flipkart.com ranked first, followed by Amazon.in, Fabindia, Myntra.com, Razorpay, Ajio.com, Tata Cliq Fashion, Livspace.com, The Souled Store and Ikea. The top 10 brands together accounted for 12% of digital ad impressions, with seven of the brands coming from the Services sector.

The report also noted strong growth across several categories. Ecom-Online Shopping grew two times, Ecom-Clothing/Textile/Fashion five times and Software two times in 2025 compared with 2024.

AV Auxiliaries recorded growth of more than 10 times, while Retail Outlets-Clothing/Textiles/Fashion grew seven times.

More than 120k advertisers appeared exclusively in 2025 compared with 2024, with Perplexity.ai emerging as the top exclusive advertiser on digital platforms.

Among web publishers, Instagram accounted for the highest share of ad impressions at 65% in 2025. Facebook.com followed with 14%, while YouTube.com held 8%, X.com 5%, and Cricbuzz Cricket Scores & News 1%.

Programmatic advertising dominated digital transactions, accounting for 95.8% of total ad impressions. Ad Network methods accounted for 1.5%, followed by Direct at 1.1%.

In terms of creative formats, Single Image Ads accounted for the largest share of impressions at 83%. Video Ads followed with 10%, while HTML5 formats accounted for 3%, Banner Ads 3%, and Carousel Ads about 0.5%.