Total advertising expenditure stood at ₹153K crore in 2024, compared with ₹140,963 crore in 2023, according to the report’s advertising market chart. Digital advertising stood at ₹88,912 crore in 2024, up from ₹78,320 crore in 2023, and is projected at ₹99,137 crore for 2025.
India’s digital ecosystem is expanding beyond connectivity and content consumption, with digital advertising, commerce and media increasingly converging around a large and diverse internet audience. The DS Group-WPP Media Decode 2.0 report puts India’s digital advertising spend at ₹88K crore in 2024, up 14% YoY, giving digital a 58% share of total advertising expenditure. Digital spends are projected to grow by 12% in 2025, taking their share of total AdEx to 60%.
The report’s broader digital landscape data reflects the scale of the audience underpinning this growth. India has 752 Mn internet users, 775 Mn smartphone users, 900 Mn TV viewers and 1,060 Mn active mobile subscriptions. Online video accounts for 550 Mn viewers, while social media has 460 Mn users and e-commerce has 420 Mn users. The ecosystem also includes 350 Mn UPI account holders, 240 Mn online shoppers, 220 Mn fantasy gaming users, 85 Mn online audio users, 75 Mn food delivery transacting users, 60 Mn stock investment app users and 25 Mn core gamers.
The expansion is increasingly extending beyond metros and Tier 1 markets. The report notes that 55% of internet users are from rural India, while its consumer segmentation points to Gen Z making up 1/4th of India’s population, with almost 50% of the cohort living in rural areas. India’s rising middle class, meanwhile, is described as roughly 37% of the population, with e-commerce, streaming services and online education among the areas driving its digital consumption.
The advertising market data also shows the increasing weight of digital within the overall media mix. Total advertising expenditure stood at ₹153K crore in 2024, compared with ₹140,963 crore in 2023, according to the report’s advertising market chart. Digital advertising stood at ₹88,912 crore in 2024, up from ₹78,320 crore in 2023, and is projected at ₹99,137 crore for 2025.
Within digital, search and retail media are emerging as distinct components. Search accounts for about 22% of total digital spends, while e-commerce media accounts for 19% of digital ad spends, according to the report. The report’s digital advertising segmentation puts retail media spend at ₹17,215 crore in 2024, with ₹21,684 crore projected for 2025.
The shift is also visible in how consumers interact with digital platforms. The report cites 732 Mn users for online video, with the audience split between 46% urban and 54% rural. Social media is at 655 Mn users, with 47% urban and 53% rural, while online gaming stands at 476 Mn users, with 44% urban and 56% rural. Net commerce has 480 Mn users, split 60% urban and 40% rural, while digital payments have 405 Mn users, with the same urban-rural split.
Connected television is another area highlighted in the report. The CTV device base increased from 23 Mn in 2022 to 30 Mn in 2023 and 50 Mn in 2024. For 2025, the report expects the CTV household base to exceed 65 million, translating to approximately 30% coverage of Indian TV households. The report identifies CTV advertising as a combination of TV-like engagement and digital measurability.
The digital commerce opportunity is also moving beyond traditional e-commerce. The report expects online digital commerce to touch 16,000 crores by 2028, estimated at 9–11% of overall retail GMV. At the same time, quick commerce is expanding its role in the advertising ecosystem, moving from search-led activity towards full-funnel media solutions that include stories, pop-ups and post-checkout advertising.
The report also notes that quick commerce is no longer limited to daily essentials, with categories such as phones, gaming consoles and apparel already selling through these platforms. It identifies health, personal care and electronics as potential areas for further expansion.
Retail media is positioned alongside these developments as another significant area of digital advertising growth. The report states that retail media currently accounts for approximately 20% of digital ad-spend, with first-party data-driven targeting being used to improve advertising efficiency. The changing data privacy environment is also highlighted, with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act making data clean rooms increasingly relevant to the digital ecosystem.
Influencer marketing is another area identified in the report, with influencers described as offering authenticity and engagement and gaining traction over celebrity endorsements.
The report’s findings come against a backdrop of rapid expansion in India’s digital infrastructure and consumer adoption. Mobile internet subscribers increased from 790 Mn+ in 2022 to 840 Mn+ in 2023 and 900 Mn+ in 2024, according to the TRAI data cited in the report. Alongside this, the rise of CTV, digital payments, online video, e-commerce and retail media is changing the points at which consumers encounter brands and transact.
The report ultimately maps a digital market where advertising, content and commerce are increasingly being addressed as connected parts of the same consumer journey. Its five-year outlook notes that media and commerce are expected to become increasingly intertwined, with media touchpoints potentially functioning as transaction points as digital adoption expands across consumer segments and geographies.
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First Published on September 21, 2026, 09:51:01 IST
