24 Digital Advertising Trends and Stats for 2025
Programmatic advertising is the leading digital advertising method today. Each Google update and technological improvement impacts not only publishers and advertisers but also the industry overall.
We have collected 24 key programmatic advertising trends, statistics, and facts in one article, which you, as a publisher, should keep in mind for 2025.
Let’s start!
- Latest Google Updates for Publishers
- Programmatic Advertising Statistics
- Mobile & App Advertising Statistics
Latest Google Updates for Publishers
Your website’s performance should stay above everything!
- 1️⃣ Google had a whopping four core updates in 2023, compared to only two in 2022. (Search Engine Land, 2023)
- 2️⃣ The policies for both the AdSense and AdMob Programs have been revised to incorporate details about the WebView API for ads, which allows for correct support of web-based ads within apps. (Google, 2023)
- 3️⃣ The Webmaster Guidelines have been replaced with the Spam policies for Google web search. (Google, 2023)
- 4️⃣ Google required all publishers with EEA / UK traffic to adopt Google-certified CMP by January 16th, 2024. (Google, 2023)
- 5️⃣ Google Chrome started disabling third-party cookies for 1% of users (30 million people) from January 4th, 2024, as part of a testing phase. Google plans to fully eliminate third-party cookies by the third quarter of 2024. (Setupad, 2024)
- 6️⃣ Google officially announced it had ended the development of FLoC APIs and proposed a new Topics API to replace it. (TechCrunch, 2023)
- 7️⃣ Google has launched Search Generative Experience (SGE) which will continue to evolve in 2024 as consumer interest in AI-powered search grows. This new powerful tool may present significant challenges to publishers. (Search Engine Journal, 2023)
- 8️⃣ Google is testing the integration of the Discover feed into its desktop homepage. (Search Engine Journal, 2023)
Programmatic Advertising Statistics
- 9️⃣ According to the Statista forecast, digital advertising spending worldwide will reach $756.47 bln in 2024. The source projected that by 2026, the spending would reach 876 billion dollars. (Statista, 2024)
- 🔟 Retail media is going to be the fastest growing ad channel across media through 2027, growing by more than 20% each year, according to our forecast. (eMarketer, 2024)
- 1️⃣1️⃣ According to Deloitte’s Connected Consumer Survey 2023, 85% of users think device makers should do more to protect data privacy and security on the devices they sell, and 77% want the government to do more to regulate the way companies collect and use that data. (Deloitte, 2023)
- 1️⃣2️⃣ In 2024, ad blocking is expected to cost publishers $54bn in lost advertising revenue, which is ~8% of the total projected global digital ad spend of $695bn (eMarketer, 2023)
- 1️⃣3️⃣ According to a survey conducted among individuals responsible for making strategic decisions regarding ad technology investments, 32% of respondents identified that integrating demand-side platforms (DSPs) with other marketing tools was the most significant challenge in programmatic advertising. (Statista, 2023)
- 1️⃣4️⃣ According to the IAB Europe’s annual ‘‘Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising’ report, the top barriers for advertisers and publishers include the quality of media (ad fraud, brand safety, viewability, transparency) and the political and economic environment. (Setupad, 2023)
- 1️⃣5️⃣ One of the most important metrics in digital advertising moving forward will be ad viewability. According to the data Setupad sourced from top SSPs such as Xandr, OpenX, and Rubicon, the ideal ad viewability score should be above 70%. (Setupad, 2022)
- 1️⃣6️⃣ In September 2023, Google marked a major milestone for the Privacy Sandbox for the Web, reaching “general availability” on Chrome for the relevance and measurement APIs. (Privacy Sandbox, 2023)
- 1️⃣7️⃣ A new Digiday and Google Privacy Sandbox survey of 65 publishers uncovered that 94% of respondents think that data leakage (unauthorized disclosure of first-party data on a third-party site) is a significant concern. (Digiday, 2023)
- 1️⃣8️⃣ Google and Meta, known together in the ad industry as the “duopoly,” are expected to bring in less than half of all U.S. digital advertising this year for the first time since 2014. (Axios, 2023)
- 1️⃣9️⃣ According to the annual ID5’s research, a resounding 72% of respondents have adopted one or more identity solutions in 2023, with a further 20% planning to adopt a solution in the coming months. (ID5, 2024)
- 2️⃣0️⃣ In 2023, more than two in every five new programmatic ad dollars went to connected TV (CTV). This year, US CTV programmatic video ad spending is projected to grow by nearly 18%—with programmatic accounting for 88% of total CTV video ad spending. (Basis, 2024)
Mobile & App Advertising Statistics
Mobile-first approach doesn’t only dominate web traffic spread, but also the advertising industry. However, mobile is also the dominant channel for in-game advertising by a significant margin.
- 2️⃣1️⃣ The global market for subscription-based gaming is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 13% from 2022 to 2030, which was valued at $8.25 billion in 2021. (GrandViewResearch, 2023)
- 2️⃣2️⃣ Global mobile advertising spending is expected to reach $4946.95 bln in 2023. (Statista, 2023)
- 2️⃣3️⃣ According to eMarketer, in-game ad sales on mobile alone will hit 177.4 billion USD by the end of 2024. (eMarketer, 2023)
- 2️⃣4️⃣ 81% of media buyers said they will maintain or raise in-game advertising spending over the next 12 months. By 2025, 83% want to adopt the format entirely. (Admix, 2023)
Bonus fact
Toms Panders, CEO at Setupad: “Seasonal opportunities in advertising are not as profound as they used to be. While we still expect to see traditional peaks in the run-up to events like Black Friday, the overall trend shows now more stable spendings across the year with a traditional dip at the beginning of every month.”
Related Article: How to Prepare your Website for Seasonal Trends in AdTech?
In 2024, the digital advertising industry is going to focus on efficiency as opposed to numbers. Meaning the main aim will be to deliver more relevant ads at the right moment and increase ROI (return on investment).
Keep an eye on the trends and statistics discussed above and stay ahead of your competition.
