INFOGRAPHIC

Quarterly Global Advertising Spend Trends: Q1 2025

Q1 2025 Advertising Trends By Industry Vertical

PubMatic’s Quarterly Ad Spend report was created to provide both publishers and advertisers with insights into the changing trends of the advertising industry. Here are the key digital trends from Q1 2025’s advertising spend data.

AD SPENDING CHANGE BY ADVERTISER CATEGORY

Q1 2025, YoY

Global advertising maintained its upward trajectory in Q1 2025. Although the spike in political advertising has tapered off, sustained investment in CTV remains a key driver of growth. Overall platform spend grew 35% between January and March, suggesting a robust start to 2025 and start to Q2, despite some category-specific declines.

LARGEST ADVERTISER AD SPEND INCREASES DURING Q1, BY CATEGORY

Although overall ad spend is down compared to last year, the spike in Careers advertising follows a seasonal pattern—typically peaking early in the year before tapering off toward year-end. Family & Parenting is experiencing significant growth, leading all categories in year-over-year performance and emerging as the fastest-growing segment this quarter. Much of this momentum is being driven by increased activity from childcare products and medical advisory organizations. Law, Government & Politics category (along with News) is still thriving even after the US election cycle, reflects heightened public interest in recent public government developments.

SMALLEST ADVERTISER AD SPEND INCREASES DURING Q1, BY CATEGORY

All ad categories saw growth from January to March 2025. However, Real Estate, Business, and Education grew the slowest for varied reasons. Real Estate continued to see double-digit growth during the quarter. However, high interest rates in certain markets and ongoing affordability challenges may have tempered overall demand. Business ad spending is modestly growing due to possible impact of international tariff conflicts. This category includes hardgoods meant for business consumption. For Education, Q1 sits between peak enrollment periods, leading to slower growth in ad spending.

MORE INSIGHTS

Explore the latest trends in video ad inventory, or check out our rolling 4 quarter lookback on select categories for seasonal trends.

PubMatic’s data analytics team analyzes over 1 trillion global advertiser bids on a daily basis, utilizing the company’s best-in-class analytics capabilities. This snapshot is based on PubMatic-sourced operational data. Advertiser category definitions are aligned to IAB’s content taxonomy categories

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