Digital ad impressions rise 44% as ecommerce, software and services fuel growth: TAM AdEx

Digital advertising continued to gain momentum in the first seven months of 2026, with digital ad impressions registering a 44% increase in Jan-Jul 2026 compared with the corresponding period a year earlier, according to the latest TAM AdEx report.

The growth highlights the accelerating role of digital platforms in India's advertising ecosystem, with services, ecommerce, software and media and entertainment emerging among the key categories driving advertiser activity.

According to the report, the services sector retained the top position on digital, accounting for 47% of ad impressions during Jan-Jul 2026. Two new sectors, Personal Healthcare and Textiles/Clothing, entered the top 10 sectors during the period, while two sectors improved their rankings compared with Jan-Jul 2025.

The shift is also visible at the category level. Ecom-Other Services emerged as the largest category on digital, accounting for 10% of ad impressions during Jan-Jul 2026. It replaced Ecom-Online Shopping, which had occupied the top position in Jan-Jul 2025.

Five of the top 10 categories were from the services sector, underlining the growing contribution of service-led businesses to digital advertising. The top 10 categories together accounted for 45% of digital ad impressions during the period. Ecom-Real Estate was among the new entrants to the top 10 categories compared with the year-earlier period.

The strongest growth was recorded by several ecommerce and digital-first categories. Ecom-Real Estate registered 90% growth in ad impressions, while Lifestyle grew 92%. Ecom-Other Services increased 85%, followed by Ecom-Travel & Tourism at 71%.

Software advertising grew 51%, while Multiple Courses increased 49%. Readymade Garments recorded 47% growth and Ecom-Clothing/Textile/Fashion grew 39%. Ecom-Media/Entertainment/Social Media registered 17% growth, while Range of Skin Care Products increased 13%.

Overall, more than 280 categories registered positive growth in digital ad impressions during Jan-Jul 2026, with Ecom-Other Services recording the highest increase among the top growing categories.

The expansion of the digital advertiser base was another significant feature of the period. TAM AdEx recorded more than 168,000 exclusive advertisers on digital during Jan-Jul 2026. Adobe Software India emerged as the largest advertiser, accounting for 4% of digital ad impressions.

Flipkart.com and OpenAI followed with 3% each, while Amazon Online India and Reliance Retail accounted for 2% each. Hindustan Unilever, Google, Info Edge India, Myntra Designs and Facebook Inc were also among the top 10 advertisers, each accounting for 1% of digital ad impressions.

The report also highlights the widening pool of advertisers that are present exclusively on digital rather than television. More than 110,000 exclusive digital advertisers were recorded during Jan-Jul 2026.

Attitudist, an ecommerce clothing, textile and fashion advertiser, led the list of advertisers that were exclusive to digital when compared with television. Poly Market, GPAI, Keevx, Caffeine Inc, Little Bird, Futureproof Lab Inc, Institute of Cost Accountants of India, Morphic and Vivimedia Corp were among the other advertisers in the top 10 exclusive digital advertiser list.

The concentration of digital advertising is also evident among web publishers. Instagram continued to lead the publisher ecosystem in Jan-Jul 2026, followed by Facebook.com, with the report noting that the trend was consistent with the corresponding period of 2025.

Instagram accounted for 69% of ad impressions among the web publishers covered by the report, while the other publishers collectively accounted for 31%. The top five web publishers together accounted for 83% of ad impressions during 2026.

Among the next 10 publishers, Facebook.com accounted for 41%, YouTube.com for 23% and X.com for 15%. Cricbuzz.com accounted for 3%, while Daily News, eBooks & Exam Prep and Cricket Line Guru: Fast Live Line each accounted for 2%. Reddit.com, ABP Live, Indianexpress.com and News18.com each had a 1% share in the listed publisher group.

The format of digital advertising remained heavily skewed towards display advertising. Display accounted for 91% of digital ad impressions in Jan-Jul 2026, while video accounted for the remaining 9%.

Programmatic buying continued to dominate the transaction methods used to place digital advertising. It accounted for 96% of total digital ad impressions during the period. Ad Network was a distant second with a 2% share, while Direct, Programmatic/Ad Network and other methods accounted for smaller shares.

The data indicates that digital advertising is not only expanding in scale but is also broadening across advertiser categories. While established ecommerce, consumer and technology companies remain significant buyers, the growth in sectors such as real estate, travel, lifestyle, software and education points to a wider adoption of digital advertising across businesses.

The increase in exclusive digital advertisers further indicates that a substantial part of the advertiser base is operating outside the traditional television-led advertising ecosystem. At the same time, the dominance of programmatic buying suggests that automated ad transactions have become central to the delivery of digital campaigns.

TAM AdEx said its analysis is based on digital ad impressions, with an ad impression defined as being based on a user's visit to a web publisher.

With digital ad impressions recording a 44% increase in Jan-Jul 2026 over the year-earlier period, the report points to continued expansion of digital as an advertising medium, driven by a growing advertiser base, expanding categories and the increasing scale of digital-first businesses.