Instagram accounts for 65% of India’s digital ad impressions in 2025

India’s digital advertising ecosystem is witnessing an unprecedented surge, with ad impressions increasing more than fivefold in 2025 compared to 2021, according to the latest report by TAM Media Research. The data, released by AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research, highlights how digital advertising has rapidly evolved into the dominant medium for advertisers across sectors, driven largely by e-commerce, services and programmatic buying.

The report indicates that digital ad impressions have grown dramatically over the past four years, with 2025 recording an indexed growth of 545 compared to the base year of 2021. On a year-on-year basis, ad impressions in 2025 expanded by more than 2.5 times over 2024, underlining the rapid acceleration in digital spending. Quarterly trends also show consistent momentum, with the October–December quarter of 2025 recording a 15% growth compared to the January–March quarter.

Instagram leads web publishers by a wide margin

Among web publishers, Instagram emerged as the dominant platform, capturing 65% of total ad impressions in 2025. The platform significantly outpaced other publishers, reflecting advertisers’ continued focus on visually driven and mobile-first audiences.

Following Instagram, Facebook accounted for 14% of ad impressions, while YouTube secured an 8% share. X contributed around 5% of ad impressions. The remaining publishers such as Cricbuzz, Amar Ujala, Indian Express and Moneycontrol collectively accounted for a relatively small share of impressions.

Despite Instagram’s dominance, the report notes that the top five web publishers together accounted for 29% of total ad impressions, indicating the highly fragmented nature of digital media consumption.

Programmatic buying becomes the backbone of digital advertising

One of the most striking trends highlighted in the report is the overwhelming dominance of programmatic advertising. Programmatic transactions accounted for 95.8% of all digital ad impressions in 2025, making it the most widely used method for media buying.

Ad networks contributed just 1.5% of impressions, while direct buying accounted for 1.1%. Hybrid programmatic and ad network transactions formed about 1%, with other methods contributing a negligible 0.7%. The data reinforces how automated buying platforms have become the backbone of large-scale digital campaigns.

Single-image ads dominate creative formats

In terms of creative formats, static formats continue to dominate digital advertising. Single image ads captured a staggering 83% share of total ad impressions in 2025, making them the most widely used creative format.

Video ads accounted for 10% of impressions, while banner and HTML5 formats each contributed about 3%. Carousel formats remained marginal, accounting for just 0.5% of impressions. The findings suggest that while video is growing rapidly in engagement-led campaigns, static creatives still remain the primary format for scale-driven advertising.

Services sector continues to lead digital ad spending

Sector-wise analysis reveals that the Services sector retained its top position in 2025, accounting for 45% of total digital ad impressions. The Education sector followed with a 7% share, while Personal Accessories, Computers and Retail each captured around 6%.

Other significant sectors included Banking, Finance and Investment as well as Personal Care and Personal Hygiene with 5% shares each. The Auto sector contributed 4%, while Personal Healthcare and Textiles/Clothing each accounted for around 2%.

Together, the top ten sectors accounted for a massive 86% share of total ad impressions on digital platforms, highlighting the concentration of spending among a few key industries.

E-commerce continues to dominate categories

At the category level, e-commerce remained the biggest driver of digital advertising. The E-commerce Online Shopping category led the chart with a 12% share of ad impressions in 2025.

Other leading categories included E-commerce Other Services, E-commerce Clothing and Fashion, E-commerce Education and E-commerce Media and Entertainment. In fact, five of the top ten advertising categories belonged to the services sector.

Collectively, the top ten categories contributed 42% of total ad impressions, further emphasising the role of online commerce in driving digital ad spending.

Flipkart tops advertisers and brands

Among advertisers, Flipkart ranked first in 2025, accounting for about 3% of total digital ad impressions. Amazon followed closely with a similar share.

Other major advertisers included Adobe, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Retail, Fabindia, Myntra, Razorpay and Maruti Suzuki India.

The report also notes that more than 187,000 advertisers were active on digital platforms during 2025. The top ten advertisers together contributed around 15% of total digital ad impressions.

At the brand level too, Flipkart topped the chart with a 3% share of impressions, followed by Amazon India, Ajio, Tata Cliq, Livspace, The Souled Store and IKEA.

The TAM AdEx findings underline how digital advertising in India is entering a hyper-growth phase. With ad impressions rising fivefold in four years, programmatic buying becoming the dominant transaction method and platforms like Instagram commanding the bulk of impressions, brands are increasingly shifting budgets to scalable, data-driven digital environments.

As e-commerce and services categories continue to expand their online presence, the digital advertising landscape is expected to witness further consolidation around large platforms, automated buying systems and performance-driven formats.