India’s digital advertising market continued its growth trajectory in the first seven months of 2026, with digital ad impressions rising 44% in Jan-Jul 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to the latest TAM AdEx report.
The services sector retained its leadership position, accounting for 47% of digital ad impressions during the period. Personal Healthcare and Textiles/Clothing emerged as new entrants to the top 10 sectors.
At the category level, Ecom-Other Services led with a 10% share of digital ad impressions, replacing Ecom-Online Shopping, which topped the list in Jan-Jul 2025. Ecom-Real Estate was the other new entrant to the top 10. Collectively, the top 10 categories contributed 45% of total digital ad impressions.
Among the fastest-growing categories within the top 10, Lifestyle recorded the highest growth at 92%, followed by Ecom-Real Estate at 90% and Ecom-Other Services at 85%. Ecom-Travel & Tourism grew 71%, while Software and Multiple Courses increased 51% and 49%, respectively. Overall, ad impressions increased across more than 280 categories during the period.
Adobe Software India tops advertiser rankings
Adobe Software India emerged as the leading advertiser on digital platforms, accounting for 4% of total ad impressions during Jan-Jul 2026. Flipkart.com and OpenAI followed with 3% each, while Amazon Online India and Reliance Retail recorded 2% each.
Hindustan Unilever, Google, Info Edge India, Myntra Designs and Facebook Inc. were among the other advertisers in the top 10, with a 1% share each.
The report recorded more than 1.1 lakh exclusive digital advertisers during the seven-month period. The Attitudist, operating in the ecom-clothing/textile/fashion category, emerged as the leading digital-only advertiser when compared with TV.
Instagram leads among web publishers
Instagram remained the leading web publisher, accounting for 69% of digital ad impressions during Jan-Jul 2026. Among the next 10 web publishers, Facebook.com accounted for 41% of impressions, followed by YouTube.com at 23% and X.com at 15%.
The top five web publishers together accounted for 83% of digital ad impressions during the period.
Display continued to dominate digital advertising formats, contributing 91% of total impressions, while video accounted for the remaining 9%.
Programmatic remained the dominant transaction method, accounting for 96% of digital ad impressions. Ad Networks followed with a 2% share, while direct, programmatic/ad network and other transaction methods made up the balance.
