Local digital advertising is entering a slower growth phase after two decades of rapid expansion, according to the executive summary of Borrell 2026 Annual Digital Benchmarking Report.
The report finds year-over-year growth has dropped to low single digits and is expected to fall below 3% by 2029, marking the slowest sustained period since the Great Recession. As a result, the industry is shifting from expansion to competition, where gains by one company are increasingly offset by losses by another.
The makeup of digital advertising is also changing. Search, long the dominant format, was overtaken in 2025 by display and social media. Looking ahead, streaming video and over-the-top (OTT) advertising is expected to surpass search by 2028.
At the same time, the pool of potential advertisers is growing. Since 2020, the number of U.S. business locations has increased by 1.7 million, or 16.3%, with the strongest gains in information, professional services, and construction sectors.
Despite that growth, most local media companies capture less than 10% of obtainable digital ad revenue in their markets, with only a small group achieving significantly higher shares. The report suggests these higher-performing companies are best positioned to compete in what it describes as a more mature and competitive digital economy.
The report concludes that the era of digital disruption has given way to a marketplace defined by market share competition, where success will depend on precision, efficiency, and the ability to consistently take share from competitors. Download the report here.
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