Colombia’s Digital Advertising Market in 2026: Key Trends and Opportunities for Brands

Colombia’s digital ecosystem continues to expand, driven by high internet penetration, mobile-first consumption, and growing investments in data-driven advertising. With more than 41.7 million internet users and smartphones remaining the primary access point to digital services, mobile channels are becoming increasingly important for brands looking to engage consumers throughout their daily digital journeys.

In 2025, digital advertising accounted for more than half of total media investment in Colombia, reaching $1.19 billion, while programmatic and in-app advertising continued to gain momentum. 

This article explores the key trends shaping Colombia’s digital marketing landscape and how brands can leverage mobile advertising, automation, and audience targeting to build more effective campaigns. 

We use data from DataReportal and IAB Colombia to analyze the key trends shaping Colombia’s digital advertising market.

Internet Use in Colombia: statistics

As of 2025, Colombia has 41.7 million internet users, representing 77.8% of the total population. The number of internet users continues to grow, increasing by 1.6% year-over-year (+649 thousand users), which confirms the ongoing expansion of the digital audience.

Mobile devices remain the primary way Colombians access the internet:

• 96.5% of internet users connect via mobile phones;
• 69.9% use laptops or desktops.

Users also spend significant time in the digital environment, with an average of 49 hours and 8 minutes per week spent using connected media.

The high level of mobile internet adoption makes smartphones a key channel for reaching Colombian audiences. For brands, this creates strong opportunities to use mobile advertising and programmatic solutions to engage users directly in the digital environments they actively use.

With precise targeting, brands can reach relevant audiences across thousands of mobile applications, delivering personalized messages based on interests, behavior, and user needs. The continued growth of internet adoption in Colombia reinforces the importance of mobile-first marketing strategies.

According to Data Reportal, internet usage is driven mainly by information search, learning, communication, and content consumption.

The leading reason is finding information (70.2%), followed by researching how to do things (67.4%), showing that users actively rely on the internet for knowledge and problem-solving. Staying connected with friends and family is also a major motivation (63.5%).

Other important activities include:

• Listening to music (60.2%) and consuming entertainment content;
• Education and study-related activities (58.4%);
• Keeping up with news and events (57.8%);
• Researching products and brands (55.6%), demonstrating the importance of digital channels in the consumer decision-making process;
• Watching videos, TV shows, and movies (55.5%).

For brands, this creates opportunities to reach audiences with relevant messages across mobile environments, especially through programmatic advertising that enables precise targeting based on interests, behavior, and user needs.

Colombia is a strongly mobile-first digital market:

• Mobile phones are the primary access point, used by 96.5% of internet users.
• Smartphones are used by 87.4% of users, making them the most important device for everyday digital activities.
• Laptops and desktops are used by 69.9% of users, remaining an important channel for work, education, and professional tasks.
• Other devices include tablets (19.9%), smart home devices (12.3%), gaming consoles (10.6%), and VR devices (4%).

The strong dominance of smartphones demonstrates the importance of mobile-first strategies in Colombia. 

Programmatic mobile advertising allows advertisers to deliver relevant messages across thousands of applications.

Main Channels for Online Brand Research in Colombia

The leading sources of brand information are:

• Social networks — 62.3%. Social platforms are the most popular channel for discovering and researching brands, demonstrating the strong influence of social content on purchase decisions.
• Search engines — 48.8%. Users actively rely on search to find information, compare options, and explore products.
• Product and brand websites — 36.1%. Official websites remain an important source for detailed information and building trust.
• Consumer reviews — 31.5%. User opinions and recommendations continue to influence brand consideration.
• Mobile apps — 27.7%. Applications are becoming an important channel for brand discovery and communication with users.

With mobile apps becoming an increasingly relevant source of brand information, in-app advertising helps brands connect with audiences in a highly engaged digital environment.

Colombia’s Digital Advertising: Key Figures

Total advertising spend in Colombia is estimated at $2.33 billion in 2025, representing a +5.5% year-over-year growth (+$122 million).

Digital advertising investment reaches $1.19 billion, growing faster than the overall market with a +10.3% year-over-year increase (+$111 million).

Digital channels account for 51% of total advertising spend, confirming the shift of brands’ budgets toward digital environments.

Digital advertising has become the leading driver of advertising growth in Colombia. As brands continue moving budgets toward measurable and data-driven channels, mobile and programmatic advertising provide opportunities to reach audiences more precisely, optimize campaigns in real time, and build meaningful interactions with users across digital platforms.

In-app advertising leads digital ad spend in Colombia, reaching $461 million in 2025 and becoming the largest digital advertising channel. Users spend a significant amount of time inside apps, creating valuable opportunities for advertisers to reach audiences in highly engaged environments.

Programmatic advertising spend is estimated at $1.01 billion in 2025. It demonstrates the significant scale of automated media buying in the Colombian market.

Investment in programmatic advertising is growing rapidly, with a +11.1% year-over-year increase (+$101 million). Programmatic accounts for approximately 85% of total digital advertising spend, confirming that automated buying has become a core part of digital media strategies.

The share of programmatic advertising within the digital market continues to expand, The growth of programmatic advertising shows that brands in Colombia are increasingly relying on data-driven approaches to reach audiences more efficiently. Automated buying allows advertisers to optimize campaigns in real time, improve targeting accuracy, and maximize media performance.

According to IAB Colombia, digital ad spend reached COP 3.04 trillion, up 7.6% YoY, representing 59% of total media investment. Social media remained the largest digital channel, attracting about COP 911.7 billion, or roughly 30% of total digital spend.

Branded content was one of the fastest-growing formats, up 66.2% to COP 22.9 billion.

Direct digital sales by publishers, ad networks, and media companies increased 36.7%, showing stronger demand across the digital ecosystem.

Colombia’s advertising market is shifting toward a more integrated digital model where social media, video, data-driven targeting, influencer content, and branded experiences play an increasingly important role.

How to Contact Us 

For over 11 years, the BYYD team has been working with mobile advertising and creating banners designed for real user engagement. We help brands capture audience attention and achieve business objectives through proven mechanics.

Check out our case studies and send us an email – let’s launch your next campaign together.

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