India’s digital advertising market is expected to grow at 15% per annum between 2024 and 2029, fuelled by consumption growth, the emergence of new media avenues, and wider internet usage, according to a report by Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm.
The report titled ‘Advertising in the digital age, in India and around the world’ highlights that brands are recognising the need to transform their digital advertising strategies due to evolving consumer behaviour, cookies, and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies.
“Preliminary shift in India with spending on flagship events like the Indian Premier League (IPL) digital and increasingly salient platforms such as quick commerce, with smaller brands also investing in diversification,” the report noted.
Earlier brands focussed on spending the majority of their digital advertising budget on platforms like Google or Meta. However, now they are diversifying their ad allocation to news apps, OTT platforms, ecommerce platforms, quick commerce apps, and gaming apps, according to the report.
For instance, in the financial year 2025, top quick commerce companies, including Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart, together posted ad revenues of more than Rs 3,000 crore.
“We are seeing more and more users spending time on their mobiles on apps and websites beyond Google and Meta. For instance, OTT and quick commerce usage have increased significantly. The digital penetration due to 4G and 5G expansion in the country has also helped shape how the customers are behaving today,” said Devika Mittal, associate partner at Bain & Company.
Furthermore, as more users are using mobile phones to browse the internet, it is pushing brands to rethink their digital advertising strategies and ideas to cater to the trending format of the app.
At the same time, the decrease in third-party cookies usage is also pushing brands to rethink their digital advertising strategies, according to the report.
“The role of cookies is transforming as governments and companies institute new privacy regulations and consumers consciously make choices to block irrelevant content and ads. Thus, brands need to be agile and evaluate strategies around FPD, ID-less targeting, and the like to target customers on the most relevant platforms at the right time, ensuring maximum ROI,” the report stated.
The report titled ‘Advertising in the digital age, in India and around the world’ highlights that brands are recognising the need to transform their digital advertising strategies due to evolving consumer behaviour, cookies, and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies.
“Preliminary shift in India with spending on flagship events like the Indian Premier League (IPL) digital and increasingly salient platforms such as quick commerce, with smaller brands also investing in diversification,” the report noted.
Earlier brands focussed on spending the majority of their digital advertising budget on platforms like Google or Meta. However, now they are diversifying their ad allocation to news apps, OTT platforms, ecommerce platforms, quick commerce apps, and gaming apps, according to the report.
For instance, in the financial year 2025, top quick commerce companies, including Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart, together posted ad revenues of more than Rs 3,000 crore.
“We are seeing more and more users spending time on their mobiles on apps and websites beyond Google and Meta. For instance, OTT and quick commerce usage have increased significantly. The digital penetration due to 4G and 5G expansion in the country has also helped shape how the customers are behaving today,” said Devika Mittal, associate partner at Bain & Company.
Furthermore, as more users are using mobile phones to browse the internet, it is pushing brands to rethink their digital advertising strategies and ideas to cater to the trending format of the app.
At the same time, the decrease in third-party cookies usage is also pushing brands to rethink their digital advertising strategies, according to the report.
“The role of cookies is transforming as governments and companies institute new privacy regulations and consumers consciously make choices to block irrelevant content and ads. Thus, brands need to be agile and evaluate strategies around FPD, ID-less targeting, and the like to target customers on the most relevant platforms at the right time, ensuring maximum ROI,” the report stated.
