India State of Digital Advertising 2025

India's digital advertising market demonstrated significant scale in the first half of 2025, with total ad spend reaching $1.56 billion and generating 3 trillion ad impressions. Facebook led as the primary ad channel by spend. The market is heavily influenced by e-commerce, with Shopping being the top spending category at a 30% share and Flipkart ranking as the #1 advertiser by impressions in the first half of 2025.

Digital advertising has become the primary battleground for consumer engagement in India, with the Shopping category leading this massive expansion. This market's dominance, fueled by giants like Flipkart and Amazon, reflects a fundamental shift to online commerce and a fierce, ongoing battle for digital market share. As online shopping becomes the default for millions, the advertising strategies pioneered in this sector are setting the pace for digital transformation across the entire Indian economy.

Note: The advertising data in this report is based on estimated digital ad spend and impressions from Pathmatics across leading channels, including Facebook and Instagram. Data is for the India market.

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Digital Ad Spend and Impressions on Facebook and Instagram Continued to Rise in India in H1 2025

From January to June 2025, digital ad spend on Facebook and Instagram showed a notable upward trend, peaking at nearly $280 million in May. This peak was nearly 1.2 times higher than the period's low point in February. Throughout the first half of the year, both Facebook and Instagram exhibited comparable growth trajectories. In the first half of 2025, Facebook achieved a massive reach, accumulating nearly 1.6 trillion impressions. This volume slightly outpaced the 1.4 trillion impressions generated on Instagram during the same period, highlighting Facebook's continued leadership  in overall market visibility.

Which Categories are Driving Digital Advertising Growth In India?

The Shopping category overwhelmingly dominates India's digital ad spend with a 30% share, nearly three times that of the next largest sectors, Jobs & Education (11%) and Consumer Packaged Goods (10%). Other major categories like Media & Entertainment and Financial Services command a smaller, single-digit share.

While Shopping remains the top category by total ad spend in H1 2025 with 15% YoY growth, other sectors are expanding much faster. The Food & Dining Services category saw the highest growth at 71%, followed by Software (+44%) and Travel & Tourism(+40%).

Which India Advertisers Made the Biggest Engagement in 2025?

E-commerce giants overwhelmingly led the charge for engagement in the first half of 2025. Flipkart Internet, Reliance Retail, and Amazon.com secured the top three ranks respectively, showcasing their massive investment in digital visibility. Their dominance highlights a fierce, ongoing battle for market share and consumer attention within India's highly competitive online shopping sector.


Beyond the top three, the list reveals a diverse and dynamic digital landscape. Food-tech rivals Zomato (by Eternal Limited) and Swiggy both featured in the top ten, alongside specialized apparel and beauty retailers Myntra and Nykaa. The presence of a CPG leader like Unilever and digital natives like Kuku FM and Sporta Technologies underscores the broad range of industries now vying for massive digital engagement.

India Festive Season Advertising Starts Early with Ad Spend Spiking in October

Digital ad spend in India consistently follows a seasonal pattern, with a significant ramp-up ahead of the main festive season. The 2024 trend illustrates this clearly, showing relatively stable spending for most of the year before a sharp spike begins in October, indicating the start of major festive campaigns.


This trend is poised to intensify in 2025. Ad spend in the first half of the year has already outpaced 2024 levels, and forecasts predict a more pronounced festive surge. The projected sharp increase beginning in October is expected to push monthly spending towards the $250 million mark, signaling a record-breaking holiday season.

Unpacking the Festive Shopper: A Demographic Profile of Key Apps in India

Beauty retailer Nykaa shows an overwhelmingly female audience, while fashion app Myntra also skews female. In stark contrast, major e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon attract a predominantly male user base.

Age is another critical factor, with the audience in India being predominantly young. The 18-24 and 25-34 age brackets form the core user base for most platforms, with Instagram and Nykaa showing a particularly strong concentration of younger users. A notable exception is bigbasket, which attracts a comparatively older demographic than its quick-commerce rivals.

Case Study: Advertising Insights from India Shopping Brands

Launched in 2016, AJIO is a fashion and lifestyle platform defined by its curated collections. Its unique features include offering exclusive international brands not found elsewhere in India and a dedicated "Indie" collection that supports local artisans, blending traditional crafts with contemporary fashion for a distinctive offering.

AJIO's user base skews young and is nearly balanced in gender, with 52% male users and 72% of the audience under age 35. This suggests strong appeal among digitally savvy, style-conscious consumers in India, particularly the 25–34 age group, which constitutes nearly half of the app's user base.

AJIO's creative strategy directly targets its young, fashion-forward demographic. It uses celebrity-led campaigns for broad appeal, while running highly-targeted ads featuring specific products like sneakers for its "Sneakerhead" persona and trendy ethnic wear for "Fashionistas" during festive sales, ensuring maximum relevance and engagement.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Digital Advertising in India

As India's digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, the challenge for brands will be to balance broad market reach, fueled by massive ad spend, with deeper user engagement through highly targeted, persona-driven creative. With a massive mobile-first consumer base, accelerating ad spend ahead of a record-breaking festive season, and growing competition from diverse industries, the Indian market offers major opportunities for both established e-commerce giants and agile challengers to scale and differentiate.

For a detailed look at digital ad spend trends, the performance of key categories, and the creative strategies of leading advertisers, download the full report below.