AUCKLAND, Today: New Zealand’s digital ad market kept up its growth in 2025, rising 12% year on year to hit $2.967 billion[1], with Video surging ahead and Search continuing to deliver strong results.
IAB New Zealand’s Q4 and full-year 2025 Digital Advertising Revenue Report, developed with an independent third party, shows Video was the standout, up 27% to $653.8 million and making up 22% of total digital revenue.
Search climbed 12% to $1.44 billion, while Classifieds and Directories rose 7% to $389.5 million, showing steady demand across key parts of the digital market.
In Q4 alone, total digital ad revenue reached $813.8 million, also up 12% year on year. Video rose 24% to $186.9 million, while digital audio gained momentum, up 22% to $4.0 million.
“New Zealand’s results reflect what we are seeing across other global markets – digital advertising continues to grow despite challenging economic conditions, and video is leading that growth,” says IAB New Zealand CEO Angelina Farry.
Programmatic advertising also continued to mature, with connected devices taking a 50% share of programmatic revenue at $40.6 million for the full year, up 2% year on year.
Programmatic Guaranteed remained the leading buy type, with video driving 86% of Programmatic Guaranteed revenue, underlining where advertisers are continuing to place their confidence.
By advertiser category, Recruitment led the year with a 24.4% share, while Real Estate held steady at 23.2%. In Q4, Real Estate lifted to 24%, up 3% quarter on quarter.
Connected Devices[2] posted the strongest device growth, with revenue up 20% for the year to $63.2 million, reflecting the ongoing rise of connected TV and streaming as ad environments.
New Zealand’s 12% growth lines up with more mature international markets. IAB UK’s full-year 2025 Digital Adspend Report, released in March 2026, showed the UK market grew 10% to £40.5 billion.
IAB Australia’s Internet Advertising Revenue Report, also released in March 2026, showed the Australian market grew 11.5% year on year to reach AUD $18.4 billion.
Across New Zealand, the UK, and Australia, Video was the clear growth driver. Both IAB UK and IAB Australia also pointed to the resilience of digital advertising despite ongoing economic pressure.
IAB Australia CEO Gai Le Roy described 2025 as “a market that is growing, but selectively – driven primarily by video and search, while other display environments saw more modest movement.”
New Zealand followed a similar trend, with Video up 27% for the year, while display, excluding Video, remained flat.
- IAB New Zealand members can access the full report at iab.org.nz
- For information about IAB New Zealand membership, please contact Angelina Farry at angelina.farry@iab.org.nz
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