Programmatic controlled 88% of ad impressions in India in 2024: TAM AdEx

Digital advertising in India witnessed moderate-to-high increase in 2024, with programmatic advertising surfacing as the preferred option to promote advertisements on digital channels. Programmatic accounted for 88% of total advert impressions, finds the latest TAM AdEx report. Titled ‘A Pixelated View into Digital Advertising Trends for Year 2024’, the study shows that services and four other sectors among the top ten retained their respective positions in 2024 compared to the previous year.

While programmatic was the preferred method, 'Ad network' constituted only 4% of ad impressions, and the direct transactions and other methods made marginal contributions to the overall pie. Capturing the trends in changing digital advertising market in India, TAM AdEx study observes that the digital advertising segment maintained its upward movement, posting a notable, 12.7 times rise in adverts impressions compared to 2020. In comparison with 2023, there was a 7% rise in ad impressions in 2024. In quarterly trends, the second quarter of 2024 observed a 9% growth compared to the first quarter, and the advert impressions during April–June 2024 were 45% higher than those in October–December 2024.

Among industries, ‘services’ maintained its top ranking, contributing 49% to total digital ad impressions. The banking, finance, and investment industries came second with 6% share, while computers controlled another 6%. The top three industries contributed 61% of digital ad impressions. The education and auto industries controlled 5% each. New entrants in the top industries list in 2024 were personal healthcare and telecom products, securing eighth and ninth positions, respectively.

In terms of advertising categories, ‘Ecom-other services’ led the pack with a 12% share of ad impressions. ‘Cellular phones-smart phones’ was the only new entrant in the top categories for 2024, while the top 10 categories combined constituted 45% of total digital ad impressions.

The top 10 brands collectively controlled 11% of total ad impressions. Among the top advertisers on digital platforms, e-commerce players dominated the lists last year. Amazon Online India stayed on top in 2024, controlling 3% of total digital ad impressions.

Coroot,Inc was the top exclusive advertiser in 2024 on digital medium. Other top advertisers were Karma Shopping, Flipkart.com, Samsung India Electronics, Maruti Suzuki India, and Home Interior Designs E-Commerce. These brands contributed between 1% and 2% each. More than 1.55 lakh advertisers were present on digital media in 2024. Google, which stood fourth in 2023, slipped to the ninth position last year.

Among the fastest-growing advertising categories, 'Ecom-other services' witnessed 47% increase in ad impressions and 'Ecom-financial services' saw a 39% rise. While retail outlets focusing on home, interiors, and furniture saw a 100% growth in ad impressions, corporate advertising in the automotive sector posted 2.9 times increase over the previous year. 'Moisturising lotions/creams' category exhibited a 2.1 times increase in ad impressions.

On the creative front, ‘Single image ads’ dominated digital platforms, controlling 50% of total ad impressions. ‘Video ads’ stood second with a 23% share, and banners and HTML5 ads controlled 12% share each. ‘Carousels’ captured the smallest share of 3%.

Among digital platforms, Twitter.com won the highest, 33% share of ad impressions followed by YouTube at 28%. The ‘In-app display’ category accounted for 18% and ‘In-app video’ and ‘Mobile display’ controlled 14% each.