Digital ads to surge 15% annually, led by mobile, reels, quick commerce and IPL

India's advertising industry is witnessing rapid growth in digital advertising, driven by fast-changing consumer behavior and increasing online activity.

According to Bain & Company’s report “Advertising in the Digital Age, in India and Around the World”, digital ad spends have consistently outpaced traditional spends, growing at 15%–20% per annum over the past decade. Of the $1 trillion global advertising market, digital spending accounts for approximately $690 billion, while traditional ad spend stood at $260 billion in 2024.

Devika Mittal, Associate Partner at Bain & Company, told Storyboard18 that within digital advertising, "Mobile holds a 70-80% share (5-10pp higher than global), CTV is at less than 5% today but growing strongly, and the remainder is held by desktop (15-25%; slightly higher than global mix)".

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From a format perspective, Mittal expects an increasing shift towards video, with advertisers aligning formats closely to device behavior – short video and reels on mobile, native product placements on e-commerce, and interactive video on CTV.

From a channel perspective, she noted, brands are diversifying their spends, across e-commerce, quick commerce platforms, and events such as the Indian Premier League, Mittal added.

In 2024, for instance, a leading Indian fintech allocated 100% of its advertising budget to IPL digital, marking a sharp shift from its considerable spending on IPL television between 2020 and 2022.

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Similarly, quick commerce platform Blinkit reported a 4x growth in ad revenue in FY2024 and is projected to grow 2.5x in FY25.

The report further stated that "India’s digital advertising market is expected to show strong growth at around 15% per annum between 2024 and 2029 and gain 5–10 percentage points of salience in total ad spend (50%–60% in 2024 to 60%–70% in 2029), fueled by consumption growth, high share of digital consumption, emergence of new media avenues like over-the-top video platforms (OTTs), and widening high-speed Internet coverage".

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are also driving this growth, with their contribution to digital ad spends increasing from approximately 35% in 2020 to 37% in 2024, and further expected to reach 40%–42% by 2029.

Meanwhile, large brands such as Coca-Cola and Nestlé, along with food companies in India, are building robust First-Party Data (FPD) capabilities, through their own consumer data and platform partnerships, recording a 2.5x return on investment (ROI) from targeted ads.

Adtech players such as InMobi, AppLovin, The Trade Desk, and Moloco are also leveraging AI/ML-backed real-time market intelligence, FPD-based targeting, and ID-less contextual advertising to deliver hyper-personalized consumer experiences.

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"As audiences spread their attention across more devices and platforms, the leaders will be those who diversify beyond mega platforms, design content for each channel from the ground up, and harness AI and first-party data to deliver personalized, high-impact campaigns. Over the next five years, those who seamlessly blend creativity, data, and technology will not just keep pace, but set the agenda—defining India's digital advertising success story."