Ireland crossed €1bn in digital ads - video now 39% of all spend
Irish digital ad spend reached €1.146bn in 2025, growing 8% year-on-year, with video up 14%, social climbing to €576m, and CTV at 58% of publisher video.
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Ireland's total digital advertising spend reached €1.146 billion in 2025, according to the latest IAB Ireland Online Adspend report conducted by IRM. Published on May 14, 2026, the figures confirm 8% year-on-year growth - a market that has now clearly crossed the billion-euro threshold and shows no sign of retreating. The result lands as advertisers across Europe scrutinize where budgets are going and whether digital platforms continue delivering returns in a period of economic uncertainty.
The study is produced by IRM, the Institute for Advertising and Media Statistics, which has been the official source for advertising investment data across Scandinavia for years and became the partner for the IAB Ireland adspend study since 2025. The methodology draws on actual figures submitted on a confidential basis by 22 leading publishers and media owners, 2 ad networks and sales houses, and 7 media buying agencies. Notably, Google, Meta (including Instagram), Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and LinkedIn do not submit data directly to IRM. Their adspend figures are calculated using econometric modelling based on IRM's proprietary model - a distinction worth keeping in mind when interpreting format-level breakdowns.
Display dominates the market at €735 million, representing 64% of all digital adspend in Ireland in 2025. The category grew 10% year-on-year and encompasses social media, video, banners, native advertising, and digital audio. It is, by far, the largest single slice of the Irish digital advertising economy.
Video is where the growth story gets most interesting. Investment in video - spanning social platforms, broadcasters, and publishers - outpaced total market growth, rising 14% compared to 2024. Video now accounts for 39% of total digital ad spend in Ireland. That is a structural shift, not a blip. When nearly four in ten digital advertising euros are flowing into video, it reflects how deeply streaming and social video consumption has embedded itself in Irish media habits.
Social media adspend reached €576 million in 2025, up 12% year-on-year. Social sits at the intersection of display and video in the Irish market, driving both the display category's growth and the broader video surge. The figure - more than half of Ireland's entire digital advertising total - underscores how dominant social platforms have become as the default channel for Irish advertisers, even though the major platforms themselves are estimated rather than directly reported.
Search grew at a more modest pace. Total search adspend reached €345 million in 2025, reflecting 4% growth year-on-year. That compares unfavourably to the 8% overall market rate and even more so to video and social performance. Search remaining at €345 million suggests the channel has matured in Ireland, with incremental investment increasingly gravitating toward video formats. Irish digital ad spend in 2023 showed a similar dynamic, when video was already identified as the primary growth engine even as search held the larger absolute share.
Classified advertising grew 11% to €66 million, a category that punches above its weight relative to its market share.
Publisher and broadcaster video deserves particular attention. According to IAB Ireland and IRM, this segment recorded the highest growth rate among all digital advertising formats in 2025, expanding 22% to reach €45 million. Within that figure, connected television (CTV) accounted for 58% of publisher and broadcaster video adspend. That CTV share reflects a decisive shift: linear television audiences are migrating to streaming environments and Irish broadcasters and publishers are capturing a meaningful portion of that advertising investment. The broader CTV advertising landscape tracked by PPC Land shows this pattern repeating across markets - streaming formats gaining budget share as viewers and, consequently, advertisers follow.
Digital audio also posted a strong result. The format achieved 20% growth in 2025, reaching an adspend of €23 million. The figure is small in absolute terms but the growth rate is significant. IAB Ireland's Listen Up Ireland 2026 researchpublished in recent weeks documented 76% weekly digital audio penetration among Irish adults aged 16 and above, corresponding to 3.09 million people. The research found that willingness to listen to advertising in exchange for free content stood at 37% in 2026, while 19% of digital audio listeners reported taking an action based on a podcast ad - rising to 30% among 16-34 year-olds. An adspend of €23 million against that audience base suggests the channel remains underinvested relative to its reach, a pattern consistent with global audio data tracked by PPC Land.
The 2026 forecast
Online adspend participants predict 7% growth for 2026, according to IAB Ireland. That projection is notably cautious given the 8% achieved in 2025, and reflects wider economic anxiety. The top predicted drivers of growth are video, digital audio, and influencer and creator marketing. The top challenges cited for 2026 are the economy, budget pressures, AI, and measurement.
That AI appears in the challenges column alongside measurement is telling. The industry is clearly grappling with how AI tools affect campaign performance, attribution, and efficiency in ways that are not yet fully resolved. At the same time, a separate IAB Ireland Sentiment Survey found that 95% of respondents are embracing AI across their digital advertising offerings - a near-universal adoption rate that mirrors findings elsewhere in Europe. IAB UK research published on May 16, 2026 found 95% of UK digital advertising businesses already deploy AI, compared to just 16% of UK businesses overall.
Madeleine Thor, CEO of IRM, commented on the results: "The Irish market continues to reflect the global trend of Video and Social adspend driving market growth. Publisher/broadcaster video recorded the highest growth rate amongst all the digital advertising formats in 2025 with a growth of 22% to €45m and CTV accounting for 58% of this format's adspend."
Suzanne McElligott, CEO of IAB Ireland, added: "2025 was another strong year for digital adspend with 8% growth year-on-year. Looking to the future in uncertain economic times our industry remains positive predicting growth of 7% for 2026. AI is clearly a game changer for digital advertising and our Q1 Sentiment Survey found that 95% of respondents are embracing AI across their digital advertising offerings and we look forward to working with our members to enhance our resilient and innovative industry."
What the numbers mean for the market
The Irish result sits within a broader European context. Austria's digital advertising market - covered by PPC Land on May 16, 2026 - grew 9.2% in 2025, reaching €3.24 billion, but 86% of that spending left the country to flow to international platforms. Ireland faces a structurally similar dynamic. The IRM methodology itself signals this: the largest platforms by spend - Google, Meta, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and others - are estimated rather than directly reported, because they do not submit data to the study. Their dominance is visible in the methodology's architecture.
US digital advertising data published by PPC Land showed social media reaching $117.7 billion in 2025, up 32.6% year-on-year and representing 40% of total US digital ad revenue. Ireland's social share - roughly 50% of total digital adspend at €576 million out of €1.146 billion - is proportionally even higher, suggesting social platforms capture a greater slice of digital budgets in Ireland than in the United States.
For marketing professionals, the report signals where investment momentum sits. Video is not merely growing - it is consolidating. Publisher and broadcaster video, which grew 22% and where CTV represents 58% of that segment, represents the format most likely to see structured investment increases as Irish broadcasters develop programmatic capabilities. Retail media and CTV convergence tracked by PPC Land shows how commerce-driven television advertising is emerging as a defined category - a dynamic that could accelerate further as Irish retailers build out their own media capabilities. IAB Ireland's retail media report published in December 2025 identified significant gaps between Irish market maturity and more advanced markets in the UK and US, suggesting room for structural growth if the infrastructure is built.
Digital audio's 20% growth rate in a market where reach data shows strong consumer engagement may attract closer attention from planners. The €23 million total remains small, but 20% annual growth from a base that is not yet saturated suggests the format is in an earlier growth phase than video or social.
The measurement challenge flagged in the 2026 outlook is not unique to Ireland. Across markets, advertisers are dealing with fragmented attribution, post-cookie measurement frameworks, and AI-driven attribution tools that do not always produce comparable results across platforms. In Ireland specifically, the fact that major platforms are modelled rather than directly reported means the industry is already working with estimated data for its largest spending categories - a structural limitation that predates current AI-driven attribution debates but compounds them.
Methodology context
IRM measures digital adspend across Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Ireland. The Irish study draws on confidential figures from participating publishers, ad networks, and agencies, with platform data for non-participating companies estimated through IRM's proprietary econometric model. The study does not represent audited figures. Ireland's designation as a measurement territory alongside Scandinavian markets reflects IRM's expansion since 2025, when it became the partner for IAB Ireland's annual adspend work. The programmatic advertising study for Sweden published by PPC Land in October 2025 used the same IRM methodological framework, providing useful comparative context for how IRM approaches market measurement.
Timeline
- 2018: IAB Ireland and PwC Online Adspend report records €574 million in total Irish digital adspend, with display at €250 million and search at €286 million
- 2019: Total Irish digital adspend reaches €673 million, up 17% year-on-year, with search growing 7% to €306 million and display up 30% to €326 million, driven by social and video
- 2020: IAB Ireland predicts 10-20% decrease in digital adspend due to COVID-19 impact, with rebound expected in Q3/Q4
- 2022: Total Irish digital adspend growth slows to 4% year-on-year
- 2023: Total Irish digital adspend reaches €958 million, up 11% year-on-year, with video identified as primary growth driver and display at €589 million
- 2025 (since): IRM becomes the partner for the IAB Ireland digital adspend study, replacing PwC as the measurement partner
- April 3, 2025: IAB Ireland publishes Listen Up Ireland 2025, the sixth wave of digital audio research, recording 76% weekly penetration among Irish adults
- October 2025: IRM publishes Swedish programmatic advertising data using the same methodology framework as the Irish study
- December 4, 2025: IAB Ireland publishes retail media report at IAB Connect conference, finding gaps between Irish retail media maturity and more developed markets
- April 30, 2026: IAB Ireland publishes Listen Up Ireland 2026, the seventh wave, recording 76% weekly digital audio penetration and 16.6 listening hours per week among listeners
- May 14, 2026: IAB Ireland and IRM publish the IAB Ireland Online Adspend report for 2025, recording €1.146 billion in total digital adspend, 8% year-on-year growth, with video up 14%, social at €576 million, publisher/broadcaster video up 22% to €45 million, CTV at 58% of publisher video, digital audio up 20% to €23 million, and a 7% growth forecast for 2026
Summary
Who: IAB Ireland and IRM (The Institute for Advertising and Media Statistics) published the IAB Ireland Online Adspend report. The study involved 22 leading publishers and media owners, 2 ad networks and sales houses, and 7 media buying agencies. Quotes were provided by Madeleine Thor, CEO of IRM, and Suzanne McElligott, CEO of IAB Ireland.
What: Total digital advertising spend in Ireland reached €1.146 billion in 2025, reflecting 8% year-on-year growth. Video grew 14% and now accounts for 39% of total digital adspend. Social media adspend reached €576 million, up 12%. Search grew 4% to €345 million. Display grew 10% to €735 million. Publisher and broadcaster video grew 22% to €45 million, with CTV accounting for 58% of that segment. Digital audio grew 20% to €23 million. Classified grew 11% to €66 million. Industry participants predict 7% growth for 2026.
When: The report was published on May 14, 2026, covering full-year 2025 performance.
Where: The data covers the Republic of Ireland's digital advertising market. IRM also measures adspend in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
Why: The report provides the advertising industry with annual benchmarks for digital advertising investment across Irish media. The data informs budget allocation decisions, format planning, and growth forecasting across publishers, agencies, advertisers, and platform partners operating in the Irish market.