Advertising

Microstimuli: How tiny cues can reshape decisions and public behaviour

How micro stimuli, not 30-second commercials, can change human behaviour

Best of BS Opinion: Does corporate power now rival state power globally?

From Big Tech's growing influence and Sharad Pawar's political calculus to the Congress' future and the rise of storyselling, here are today's top Opinion pieces.

Why 'storyselling' is replacing traditional advertising narratives

Why Ads That Don't Look Like Ads Are Winning

Life insurers' ad expenses fell 19.16% to ₹3,211.6 crore in FY26

Private life insurers pared advertising and publicity spending amid GST changes, EoM pressures and restructuring after the loss of input tax credit benefits

25 years of A R Rahman's Airtel jingle: A timeless lesson in branding

You don't need lyrics to know it. You don't need a screen to see it

AI-made ads promise cheaper reach, but can brands avoid slop trap?

Disney's AI ad tool could lower video costs for SMEs and regional brands, but Indian marketers warn that scale without human judgement may weaken trust, recall and regulation

Advertising curbs risk weakening broadcasters in a changed market

As of December 2025, the number of homes with cable & satellite TV was down to 100 million, according to estimates

West Asia war: Margin pressure moves ad budgets out of prime-time spotlight

Media buying agencies and the FMCG sector contribute around 30 per cent of the overall advertising industry

Buyers and brands keep an AI eye on each other in fast-changing dynamics

Consumers adopt tools to monitor the very brands that track them. It's a double-edged opportunity for brands as consumers expect greater transparency

Indian digital ad market likely to double to $22 bn by 2030, says report

The digital advertisement market in India is likely to double in the next five years, reaching up to USD 22 billion by 2030, market research firm Redseer Consulting said on Friday. According to the latest report released by Redseer, digital advertising spend growth is outpacing the broader economy with the segment accounting for 70-75 per cent of total global ad spend in 2025 and is growing at 3-5 times the pace of global real GDP in 2025. "Indian digital ad market is currently at USD 11 billion in 2025. It is projected to grow at 10-15 per cent compound annual growth rate in the range of USD 19 billion to USD 22 billion by 2030," Redseer Consulting senior consultant Madhav Gulati told PTI. Geographically, the United States holds the largest share at around 46 per cent of global digital ad spend in 2025, followed by China at around 24 per cent share. The share of India is around 1 per cent at present, according to the report. Global digital advertising market to cross USD 1.2 tril

Google suspends 1.7 million accounts, blocks 483 million bad ads in India

Tech giant Google blocked or removed 483.7 million policy-violating advertisements and suspended 1.7 million advertiser accounts in India in 2025 with the help of its AI platform Gemini. Globally, Google blocked or removed over 8.3 billion bad ads and suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts last year, according to Google's '2025 Ads Safety Report' released on Thursday. The company stated that the integration of its Gemini artificial intelligence models has dramatically improved its ability to detect and stop bad actors in real-time, especially as scammers increasingly use generative AI to create deceptive ads at scale. Of the 8.3 billion ads removed globally, Google said it stopped over 99 per cent before they were ever seen by users. "Our safety teams work around the clock to stop bad actors that use increasingly sophisticated, malicious ads," Keerat Sharma, VP & General Manager, Ads Privacy and Safety at Google, said in a blog post. "Our models analyse hundreds of billions of

Meta poised to surpass Google in digital ad revenue for first time: Report

The Instagram-owner's global net ad revenues are expected to reach $243.46 billion in 2026, ahead of Google's projected $239.54 billion, the market research firm said

FIFA Lego lessons for IPL advertisers: Rethink product and creativity

The Lego campaign for the FIFA World Cup should serve as a masterclass for all brands and marketers - both for its focus on the product and how the event will be used to drive brand sales

As India's weight management market expands, misleading ads risk rises

A week before semaglutide's patent expiry, the CDSCO issued an advisory warning pharma companies against promoting prescription weight-loss drugs, banned by law

Is the use of old Hindi songs lazy advertising or a masterstroke?

Brands are reviving old Hindi songs to spark nostalgia and trust, but can retro appeal truly build lasting brand equity in the age of AI-driven advertising?

Ad-vantage AI: Humans remain the creative filter in evolving advertising

AI is transforming advertising in India-cutting costs and speeding execution-yet human creativity remains central to emotional storytelling and brand impact

Govt taking action against coaching centres for misleading ads: Minister

The government has taken various measures to protect the interest of consumers, including action against coaching centres for misleading advertisements, Union minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday. Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution minister said many notices were issued to coaching centres. Besides, penalties have been levied for misleading advertisements. Issues of misleading advertisements by coaching centres have come down relatively, Joshi said, adding that many measures have been taken against violation of consumer protection rights. Tributes were paid to former member Kavuru Sambasiva Rao who passed away last week as soon as the House met for the day. The members stood in silence for a brief while as a mark of respect. Soon after the obituary reference, an anguished Birla told the members that it was not a good practice to chat with each other when the House was paying tributes to members

Agentic AI next frontier in ads and commerce, says Google Ads VP

Google Ads Vice President Dan Taylor says agentic AI could transform shopping journeys and advertising by simplifying decisions and enabling seamless commerce across the web

Former OpenAI researcher quits as firm explores advertising like Facebook

As Facebook chased engagement and ad revenue, promises of user control eroded, raising concerns that AI platforms may repeat the same pattern, with risks to privacy and mental health

OpenAI tests ads for ChatGPT users on Free and Go plans: How it works

OpenAI has begun testing ads on ChatGPT's Free and Go tiers in the US, saying ads won't influence answers and are meant to keep the service accessible with fewer usage limits