Digital Now Accounts for 46% of India’s Total Ad Spend — Performance Budgets Shift to Search, Marketplace Ads & Retail Media

India’s Ad Spend Tipping Point Has Quietly Arrived

For years, marketers talked about digital “catching up” with television.

In FY25, that conversation officially ended.

Digital advertising now accounts for 46% of India’s total ad spend, marking the clearest signal yet that marketing budgets are moving decisively toward performance-led, data-measurable channels. What’s notable isn’t just digital’s growth — it’s where within digital the money is flowing.

This is no longer about social reach alone. Budgets are consolidating around search, marketplaces, and retail media, where attribution is clearer and demand is closer to conversion.

Why Performance Channels Are Winning Budget Share

India’s advertising ecosystem has matured. CMOs are no longer asking for impressions; they’re asking for outcomes.

Search advertising has become the backbone of intent capture. When inflation, regulation, and cautious spending influence consumers, search catches demand at its most decisive moment.

Marketplaces — Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and others — now function as closed-loop performance ecosystems. Brands can see impressions turn into sales on the same platform, shortening attribution cycles and reducing wastage.

Retail media is the next acceleration point. Retailers are monetising their own first-party shopper data, allowing brands to advertise inside the buying environment itself. The result is a powerful shift from awareness-led campaigns to demand harvesting.

Why This Shift Feels Different From Previous “Digital Pushes”

Earlier digital growth was driven by experimentation.

What’s happening now is optimisation.

Marketing leaders are reallocating budgets away from channels that are hard to measure or justify in boardrooms. Performance spend survives scrutiny because it ties marketing directly to revenue.

This explains why:

• Search budgets are often being protected even when overall spends tighten
  
  
• Marketplace ads are replacing some traditional ecommerce display spends
  
  
• Retail media is gaining favour as cookies and third-party targeting weaken
  
  

The shift isn’t emotional. It’s operational.

What This Means for Brands in India

Digital’s 46% share doesn’t mean “digital first” — it means performance first.

Brands that succeed in this environment are aligning:

• Media buying with business outcomes
  
  
• Content with conversion intent
  
  
• Data with decision-making

Those still treating digital as an extension of traditional advertising — heavy on creatives, light on structure — are finding it harder to scale efficiently.

The strongest growth is coming from brands that design their digital strategy backward from sales, leads, or qualified demand, not just engagement.

Why This Trend Will Accelerate in 2026

Three forces are reinforcing this direction:

• Privacy regulations limiting third-party data
  
  
• Rising pressure on marketing ROI
  
  
• Platform ecosystems offering clearer attribution
  
  

As these forces converge, performance-led digital channels will absorb an even larger share of advertising budgets. Creative storytelling still matters — but it must now work inside performance systems, not outside them.

Where Digilogy Fits In

At Digilogy, we help brands allocate digital budgets where performance actually compounds.

Our work focuses on:

• Search-led demand capture
  
  
• Marketplace & ecommerce advertising
  
  
• Retail media strategy
  
  
• Performance-driven content systems
  
  

If your digital spends are growing but returns aren’t scaling proportionately, it’s time to realign budgets with intent.

Build a performance-centric digital strategy that scales with clarity. Take the next step with Digilogy now.