Global DooH Ad Spend To Grow 13.7% In 2026
DooH ad spend is forecast to rise 13.7% to $21.7B in 2026, per WARC, outpacing overall global ad growth of 11.9% to $1.34T.
Digital out-of-home advertising expenditure is forecast to increase 13.7 percent to US$21.7 billion in 2026, according to WARC's latest Media Global Ad Spend Forecast. The projection places DooH among the fastest-growing advertising channels, even as economic uncertainty persists and consumer spending remains cautious.
The DooH figure forms part of a broader forecast showing global advertising expenditure rising 11.9 percent to US$1.34 trillion this year, following two consecutive years of 10 percent growth. Retail media is also expected to grow, with spending expected to climb 14.3 percent to US$202.1 billion. WARC attributes the expansion of both channels to advertisers' growing emphasis on measurable performance and the ability to adjust campaigns as conditions shift.
Social media is projected to record the strongest growth among all channels, increasing 21.3 percent to $394.6 billion. Video on-demand follows at 15.1 percent to $48.4 billion, while search advertising is forecast to rise 14.2 percent to $295.7 billion. Together, social media, search and retail media will account for 66.4 percent of global ad expenditure this year, a share WARC expects to reach 70 percent by 2028. Alphabet, Amazon and Meta alone are expected to represent 59.7 percent of global advertising expenditure outside China in 2026, equivalent to $659.6 billion.
Technology and electronics companies will lead advertiser category growth at 20.7 percent, followed by travel and transport at 19.3 percent and automotive at 17.8 percent. WARC links much of the market's resilience to corporate AI investment alongside the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup and U.S. midterm elections. Suzy Young, head of WARC Media Data, notes that spending is accelerating even as consumers face cost-of-living pressures, with growth increasingly concentrated among companies and sectors benefiting from the AI boom.
WARC expects global advertising growth to slow to 8.4 percent in 2027, reaching $1.46 trillion, then 7.9 percent in 2028 to $1.57 trillion. The organization cautions that economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions could still affect future advertising investment.