Digital advertising in Germany - statistics & facts

In 2013, Chancellor Angela Merkel called the internet an “uncharted territory,” earning widespread mockery and going viral in the process. More than a decade later, the role of the internet in Germany’s advertising market remains modest and its development lags behind. In spite of making it into the top five largest digital markets worldwide by value, the share of the internet in overall advertising spending lay at around 13 percent in Germany in 2021, compared to more than 50 percent in mature digital markets such as China, Canada, or the United Kingdom. Trends show that German advertisers still rely heavily on television and even spend more on newspaper ads than they do on their online equivalents. Germany is also among the slowest-growing digital ad markets in Europe, with a growth rate of roughly a fifth of the European average and a mere fraction of growth leader Turkey.

Mobile: meet the customers where they are

By sheer expenditure, Germany was one of the largest mobile ad markets worldwide in 2022. However, German brands tend to trust desktop ads more than mobile ads, investing only a third of digital ad spending in mobile platforms, compared to the global average of 62 percent. This trend seems especially surprising when considering that smartphones are the devices of choice for Germans when it comes to online shopping. Market research shows that advertisers aiming to influence purchase decisions of German mobile buyers are best served by products of such publishers as Ströer Digital, BurdaForward, and eBay Classifieds Group - each reaching well over 30 million people or 40 to 50 percent of the country’s population.

Programmatic: an untapped potential

Unsurprisingly, also in terms of programmatic spending, Germany belonged to the global top five in 2021, behind the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Japan. However, the difference between what the leader of the ranking and Germany spent is staggering. While the size of the U.S. programmatic market was estimated at 222 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, Germany’s lay at around 13.2 billion. The value is expected to increase but the growth will slow down from an already moderate 10 percent to six percent in 2028. Advertisers do not seem to lend this type of ad buying much attention, which leads to relatively stable programmatic ad prices (CPM), while ad impressions show slow but steady growth.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Mar 1, 2024

Key insights

Digital ad spend in Germany
12.39bn EUR
Digital share of ad spend in Germany
12.7%
Digital ad spend annual growth in Germany
2%
Get more insights

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Digital advertising spending in Germany from 2019 to 2028, by format (in million U.S. dollars)

Online Advertising

Digital ad spend in Germany 2019-2028, by format

Programmatic advertising spending in Germany from 2017 to 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Online Advertising

Programmatic ad spend in Germany 2017-2028

Podcast advertising spending in Germany from 2019 to 2023 (in million euros)

Online Advertising

Podcast ad spend in Germany 2019-2023

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Programmatic

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