European advertising is growing. But it grows especially where the money ends up in the coffers of the major global platforms. This is the picture, and at the same time the paradox, that emerges from the Confindustria Radio Televisioni report on advertising investments in the five largest European markets. In 2025, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain are worth a total of 123.3 billion euros: 5.7% more than the previous year and 86.9% above 2016 levels. However, the engine is one: the Internet.
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Digital has reached 92.8 billion – 10.1% more in twelve months – and now absorbs 75.3% of all investments of the Big 5. In ten years it has grown by 246%, adding about 66 billion. The rest of the market tells almost the opposite story: television, print, radio, cinema, and out of home combined are worth about 30.4 billion. Linear TV alone falls to 15.2 billion, with a drop of 9.2%.
Within this revolution, Italy occupies a particular position. The market rises by 4.7% to 11.7 billion, behind the United Kingdom, Germany, and France but ahead of Spain. Yet it is still the least digital among the five: Internet accounts for 52.5% of investments, compared to 86.2% in the UK, 71.4% in Germany, 69.3% in Spain, and 67.4% in France. In 2025, therefore, Italy also steadily surpasses the symbolic 50% threshold, but nearly 34 points remain between Rome and London.
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The most delicate point, however, is who cashes in on this growth. In Italy, the major international players collect 82% of investments in Internet advertising: a concentration higher than the 76% recorded in France and the 72% in Germany. The report thus highlights an increasingly evident divergence: national operators continue to bear the costs of editorial production, innovation, and regulatory obligations, while a growing share of advertising is intercepted by a few global entities.
It is not just a budget shift from print or TV to the web. The very nature of advertising is changing. The old boundaries between television, platforms, ecommerce, and digital services are becoming porous. Social, retail media, video, and digital audio are the areas where growth is concentrated; and the very label “Digital” now brings together very different worlds, from search to Connected TV.
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