India's digital ad market to hit $30 bn in next decade: Report

Driven by a spurt in online activities led by millennials and the Gen Z, India's digital ad market is expected to grow 10 times in the next decade, from $3 billion in CY20 to $25-30 billion in CY30, a new report revealed on Monday.

The digital ad market is likely to contribute 70-85 per cent of the total ad market, which currently stands at 33 per cent in the country.

The main growth drivers for this trend are growth in GDP/capita, increasing digital consumption and the rise of direct-to-consumer (D2C)/challenger brands which will drive the next phase of growth for digital ads, according to the report by Bengaluru-based market research firm RedSeer.

Also, an increasing digital penetration in Tier 2+ cities is creating new market and opportunities for digital marketers.

"While the new age companies have been majorly spending on digital ads over the recent years, traditional companies are also increasingly spending on digital. A key factor for this growing trend is the cohort of millennials and Gen Z who spend most of their time on digital platforms," said Abhishek Gupta, engagement manager, RedSeer.

"The trend is only expected to amplify as more people especially in Tier 2+ cities engage more digitally through websites, apps, social media among others," he added.

The report said that the comparison of 2015 vs 2020 shows how significantly monthly active users (MAU) have grown across popular apps which includes chat messengers, OTT, e-commerce, social media, among others.

This growth also reflects in user time spent, engagement and other factors.

There has been a steady growth in India's digital ad spends. However, it is comparatively much lower than countries like China and the US, wherein digital adoption is still higher than India.

"But, the growth of digital ads is likely to continue and grow stronger as with the wake of Covid, adoption of digital services has grown multifold. This is bound to have a positive impact on advertisement spent by companies and brands as users start spending more additional time on these platforms," Gupta emphasised.