Advertising Industry Defies Economic Challenges
Despite global economic uncertainty, the advertising industry experienced robust growth in 2025. According to a recent forecast from WPP Media, total global ad revenue—excluding political advertising—is projected to rise by 8.8% this year, reaching $1.14 trillion. Looking ahead, the report estimates a 7.1% increase in 2026.
In North America alone, total ad spend, excluding political content, is expected to surge 12.3% in 2025. This outpaces WPP’s previous forecast of 7.7% growth made in 2024, at which time the company was still known as GroupM.
Digital and Social Media Lead the Charge
One of the most significant contributors to this growth is content-driven advertising on digital and social media platforms. Collectively, these categories are projected to generate $413 billion in 2025. Within this segment, gaming emerges as the fastest-growing area. Ad spending in gaming is expected to increase to $8.5 billion in 2025 and further to $10.7 billion in 2026.
Streaming Becomes a Dominant Force
Streaming services continue to reshape the television advertising landscape. Streaming is expected to account for 26.2% of total TV ad revenue in 2025, with a further increase to 29.6% in 2026. Ad spend for streaming is projected to grow 15.2% to $43.9 billion this year and another 15.1% to $50.5 billion next year.
Conversely, traditional TV advertising is on the decline. Its share of global ad revenue is expected to drop to 14.6% in 2025, down from 15.8% the previous year. Linear TV ad spend is forecast to decrease 3.8% to $123.5 billion in 2025 and fall another 2.6% to $120.3 billion in 2026.
Print and Audio Channels See Mixed Results
Magazine advertising continues to face steep declines, with spending projected to drop 7.2% to $15.6 billion in 2025 and another 10.7% to $14 billion in 2026. In contrast, audio advertising—which includes radio and podcasting—is expected to remain relatively flat, totaling $27.5 billion in 2025, a slight 0.1% decrease. The sector may see a minor rebound to $27.6 billion in 2026.
Search Advertising Grows, but Faces Plateau
Search advertising is undergoing a transformation fueled by artificial intelligence. The category is projected to grow 10.2% to $244.9 billion in 2025, accounting for 21.4% of total global ad revenue. However, forecasts indicate that its growth will begin to stagnate in 2026 and continue to decelerate through 2030.
Commerce Media Gains Prominence
Commerce media, a category encompassing retail, travel services, and financial services media networks, is gaining traction as a key component of advertisers’ media strategies. The sector is expected to comprise 15.6% of global ad revenue in 2025, amounting to $178.2 billion. Retail media dominates this space, with the United States contributing approximately one-third of global revenue.
Despite its rapid expansion, the report suggests potential consolidation in the future as advertisers streamline their partnerships and focus on more efficient media strategies.
Location-Based and Out-of-Home Advertising Expand
Location-based advertising is projected to grow 6.3% in 2025, reaching $56.9 billion. This growth is largely attributed to the rise of programmatic technology in the out-of-home (OOH) sector and the medium’s resistance to digital substitution.
OOH advertising overall is expected to generate $54.6 billion in 2025, marking a 6.3% increase year-over-year. Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising is particularly strong, forecast to grow 9% to $22.2 billion. By 2030, total OOH spend is anticipated to exceed $71.5 billion, with DOOH accounting for nearly half of that amount.
Cinema advertising, although smaller in scale, is also growing. The segment is predicted to rise 5.5% to $2.2 billion in 2025. However, long-term growth is expected to plateau due to ongoing structural challenges in the industry.
This article is inspired by content from Original Source. It has been rephrased for originality. Images are credited to the original source.