How big is the US digital advertising market, and what do the figures measure?
Part of US and Canada targeting
The short answer
The IAB and PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report, released April 16, 2026, puts US internet advertising revenue at $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9 percent, and programmatic advertising revenue at $162.4 billion, up 20.5 percent. Both are revenue estimates reported by companies that sell advertising, in US dollars, and PwC does not audit them.
Key takeaways
- US internet advertising revenue reached $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9 percent; programmatic advertising revenue reached $162.4 billion, up 20.5 percent.
- These are supplier revenue estimates, not open web spend, and the report says PwC does not audit the information.
- Programmatic is a way of selling, not a format: it overlaps search, display and video lines and covers private marketplaces and guaranteed deals as well as open auctions.
- A market size claim needs three dates: the year measured, the release date and the date you checked for a newer edition.
- A US figure cannot stand in for Canada, and a programmatic total cannot stand in for open auction spend.
How big is digital advertising in the US in the latest IAB and PwC report?
The newest edition is the Internet Advertising Revenue Report, Full Year 2025 (opens in a new tab), which IAB published on April 16, 2026. In the report's wording, revenues "increased by 13.9% YoY between 2024 and 2025, to reach their highest recorded level of $294.6 billion." The 2024 edition (opens in a new tab), released April 17, 2025, had put the previous year at $258.6 billion.
| Format | 2025 revenue | Change from 2024 | Note from the report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search | $114.2 billion | Up 11.0 percent | Largest share, at 38.8 percent |
| Display | $81.6 billion | Up 9.8 percent | Includes banner, rich media, sponsorship and native |
| Digital video | $78.0 billion | Up 25.4 percent | Includes CTV, social video, online video and short form video |
| Digital audio | $8.4 billion | Up 10.2 percent | Podcast advertising alone was $2.9 billion, up 17.6 percent |
| Other formats | $12.5 billion | Up 6.9 percent | A 4.2 percent share: classifieds and directories, and lead generation |
Two further details help when a client asks where the money sits. Quarterly growth rose through the year, from 12.2 percent in the first quarter to 15.4 percent in the fourth, when revenue reached $85.0 billion against $73.7 billion a year earlier. And the report finds the top 10 companies held 84.1 percent of revenue in 2025, with companies ranked 11 to 25 at 8.3 percent and all others at 7.5 percent.
How large is US programmatic advertising revenue?
Programmatic advertising revenues "reached $162.4 billion in 2025, growing $27.6 billion (20.5% YoY growth, up from 18.0% in FY24)." The same chart reports non-programmatic placements, excluding search, at $18.0 billion, down 13.9 percent. Both lines leave search out, so the programmatic series answers how display, video and other non-search revenue was sold, not how the whole $294.6 billion was sold.
| Year | Programmatic | Non-programmatic placements |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $99.0 | $12.0 |
| 2022 | $109.4 | $16.0 |
| 2023 | $114.2 | $22.0 |
| 2024 | $134.8 | $20.9 |
| 2025 | $162.4 | $18.0 |
Definition
- Programmatic ad revenue (IAB and PwC)
- "Earned revenue for machine-based buying and selling of digital media including, but not limited to: programmatic direct via private marketplace or automated guaranteed, open RTB via programmatic/DSP, publisher direct via a proprietary ad platform (i.e. self-serve), ad network."
That definition is broad. It counts invitation only auctions, guaranteed deals and self-serve platforms alongside the open exchange, and the report adds that programmatic "is not a separate format. Therefore, revenue may appear duplicative to other revenues listed." A plan that needs open auction spend specifically cannot take it from this line, because the report does not publish an open RTB share.
What does the IAB and PwC report actually measure?
IAB initiated the report in 1996, and it is commissioned by IAB and conducted by PwC. It "uses data and information reported directly to PwC from companies selling advertising on the internet as well as publicly available corporate data." PwC compiles a database of sellers, surveys leading players, and "applies a conservative revenue estimate" for companies that do not take part. The survey definitions ask for revenue on an earned basis under generally accepted accounting principles and say: "Only include U.S. based revenues."
| Question | Answer from the report | What it means for a citation |
|---|---|---|
| Who reports? | Companies selling advertising online, plus public corporate data | Seller revenue, not advertiser budgets |
| Is it audited? | "PwC does not audit the information and provides no opinion or other form of assurance" | Call it an estimate |
| Which country? | US based revenues only | Not a North American total |
| Is search included? | Yes, $114.2 billion of the total | Not an open web or display figure |
| Is it gross or net? | Earned GAAP revenue, with rules for traffic acquisition costs | Not the same as agency billings |
What source date should accompany a market size claim?
A market figure carries two dates that are easy to confuse. The measurement year is 2025; the IAB release (opens in a new tab) is dated April 16, 2026. Readers months later need both, plus a sign that you looked for something newer. IAB released the last two full year reports on April 17, 2025 and April 16, 2026, so a figure quoted in October 2026 names the 2025 edition until IAB's report page lists a later one.
Five steps to cite a US market size figure
- Open the issuer's report page. Confirm the edition you hold is the newest one listed, and note the date you checked.
- Copy the figure with its label. Write "US internet advertising revenue" or "programmatic advertising revenue, excluding search", exactly as the report frames it.
- Give both dates. For example: 2025 revenue, IAB and PwC, released April 16, 2026.
- State the currency and status. US dollars, seller reported, not audited by PwC.
- Keep growth rates with their base. Up 13.9 percent means against $258.6 billion in 2024, not against any other series.
Can you reuse a statistic from a different country or buying method?
Not safely. Canada's equivalent, the IAB Canada revenue survey (opens in a new tab), reports in Canadian dollars, counts revenue sold to reach Canadians, and gives buying method shares on its own bases, which our guide to Canada digital advertising market size explains. A buying method share is also tied to its denominator: a share of programmatic revenue excluding search is not a share of total revenue.
Deal terms show why the buying method matters. In the OpenRTB 2.6 specification (opens in a new tab), a private_auction value of 1 restricts bids to the deals specified, so programmatic revenue can include transactions outside the open auction. Treating the $162.4 billion as open exchange spend would overstate that market by an amount the report does not publish.
What should a plan check before it quotes a US market figure?
US market size citation check
- The figure names IAB and PwC, the full year 2025 edition and its April 16, 2026 release date.
- Internet advertising revenue and programmatic revenue are labeled separately and never added.
- Social media and commerce media figures are shown as their own series, not stacked on the formats.
- The text says seller reported and not audited, rather than spend or budgets.
- No Canadian, regional or state figure was derived from the US total.
- Growth rates sit beside the prior year figure they compare against.
- The issuer's report page was checked for a newer edition on the date shown.
Fictional example
A Phoenix sunscreen maker's board slide
An unnamed mineral sunscreen maker in Phoenix, Arizona is preparing a board slide on digital media before expanding past its Arizona and southern California retail base. A draft headline reads that brands spend $162.4 billion a year on open exchange advertising, sourced to a trade article.
The agency planner rewrites it from the report itself: US programmatic advertising revenue, excluding search, was $162.4 billion in 2025, released April 16, 2026, seller reported and not audited. The planner adds the $294.6 billion total on its own line and drops a Canadian figure someone had converted from the US number. The slide states the market and its source; it makes no claim about the brand's share.
How does PlacementGraph turn a US brief into a site list?
A national market figure sets context; a campaign still runs on specific sites.
Frequently asked questions
Does the $294.6 billion include search advertising?
Yes. Search revenues were $114.2 billion in 2025, the largest format at 38.8 percent of the total, growing 11.0 percent against 15.9 percent in 2024. The report defines search as fees advertisers pay to list or link their site to a search word or phrase, including paid search.
How big is US podcast advertising?
The IAB and PwC report puts podcast advertising revenue at $2.9 billion in 2025, up 17.6 percent. The report says it "reflects the traditional, audio-based definition of a “podcast”" and notes that video is becoming the leading channel for podcast consumption, so read the figure as an audio number.
Does the US report include connected TV?
Yes, within digital video, which the report says includes CTV, social video, online video and short form video and reached $78.0 billion in 2025. Its definitions describe CTV and OTT as TV-like internet delivered content on smart TVs or OTT devices, including free ad supported streaming services and virtual MVPDs.
Do the two latest editions agree on 2024 programmatic revenue?
Yes. The 2024 edition reported programmatic revenue of $134.8 billion for 2024, an 18.0 percent increase, and the 2025 edition's programmatic chart, which excludes search, shows the same $134.8 billion for 2024. Cite the five year series from the newest edition so the years in a chart come from one report.
Sources
- Internet Advertising Revenue Report, Full Year 2025 (opens in a new tab)IAB and PwC, April 2026
- Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2025 (report page) (opens in a new tab)IAB
- Digital Ad Revenue Climbs to Nearly $300B as IAB Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary (opens in a new tab)IAB, April 16, 2026
- Internet Advertising Revenue Report, Full Year 2024 (opens in a new tab)IAB and PwC, April 2025
- 2025 IAB Canada Internet Ad Revenue Survey and 2026/27 Forecast (opens in a new tab)IAB Canada, June 2026
- OpenRTB 2.6 specification (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.