India Ad Market 2025 Forecasts Signal Steady Growth as Digital, Retail Media and CTV Lead
Recently, forecasts for the India ad market 2025 pointed to steady expansion despite macro uncertainty. While growth estimates vary by methodology, the consistent theme is clear: digital channels—especially retail media and Connected TV—are taking a bigger share as brands prioritise measurable outcomes and full-funnel planning.
Key Developments
Multiple outlooks place 2025 growth in a broad band, reflecting different measurement approaches and base assumptions. Some estimates peg growth closer to mid-single digits in dollar terms, while others show higher growth in rupee terms.
One widely cited forecast projects ad spend rising to $13.8 billion in 2025 with 4.6% growth, and expects faster acceleration in 2026 and 2027 as digital momentum compounds.
Another forecast expects India’s total advertising revenue to reach ₹1.85 lakh crore (₹185,000 crore) in 2025, representing 9.2% growth over 2024, highlighting resilience even as brands stay cautious on costs.
A separate outlook projects 7.8% growth for 2025, with overall market size estimates differing by scope (net vs gross, channel inclusions, and reporting definitions).
Across these forecasts, the biggest shift remains channel mix. Digital is consistently positioned as the main growth engine, with retail media rising fastest, and social and search continuing to absorb incremental budgets.
Industry & Expert Context
The core story behind the India ad market 2025 is not just growth—it’s the reallocation of spend toward addressable, measurable media.
Retail media is emerging as a key driver because it sits close to purchase intent. Brands can use marketplace and commerce data to target shoppers, test creatives quickly, and connect spend to sales more directly than many traditional formats.
Connected TV (CTV) is also gaining attention as streaming adoption rises. Advertisers see CTV as a bridge between TV-scale storytelling and digital-style targeting, especially for premium audiences and category launches.
Three forces are shaping planning decisions:
- Inflation and cost pressure: marketers are balancing brand-building with efficiency.
- Performance accountability: demand for measurement, lift studies, and cleaner attribution is rising.
- Creative diversification: formats are expanding across video, audio, and commerce-led placements.
This shift is also influencing how agencies plan campaigns. Instead of treating TV, digital, and commerce as separate lanes, more teams are designing a single journey—from discovery to conversion—using different channels at each stage.
Why This Matters
For brands, a digital-led market changes the playbook. Winning in the India ad market 2025 will depend less on “being everywhere” and more on being present in high-intent environments—search, social discovery, retail media, and streaming.
For platforms and publishers, the opportunity is to prove outcomes. Channels that provide stronger reporting, brand-lift evidence, and conversion visibility will attract a larger slice of incremental budgets.
For consumers, the impact is a more personalised ad experience—especially on mobile and streaming—though it also increases pressure on privacy-safe targeting and responsible frequency management.
For SMEs and challenger brands, this shift can be positive. Digital and retail media can reduce entry barriers by letting smaller advertisers start with tighter budgets, optimise faster, and scale only what performs.
What Happens Next
Most signs suggest 2026–2027 could see stronger acceleration if macro conditions remain stable and digital infrastructure keeps improving. Retail media networks are likely to expand deeper into category-level targeting, while CTV buying becomes more standardised.
Expect more emphasis on:
- Commerce-led planning: retail media integrated with search and social
- CTV experimentation: short-form video storytelling + performance retargeting
- Measurement-first buys: incrementality, lift studies, and cleaner attribution models
If these trends hold, the India ad market 2025 will be remembered as a transition year—where growth continued, but the bigger change was how budgets moved toward measurable, digital-first outcomes.
Final Takeaway
Forecasts differ on the exact number, but the direction is consistent: the India ad market 2025 is expanding with digital leading—powered by retail media, social, search, and the rise of CTV. Digilogy racks these shifts closely to understand how channel mix, measurement, and consumer behaviour are reshaping media planning; if you’re building your 2025 plan, you can place your service page link here with the primary keyword India ad market 2025.
