Advertising market in France: CTV and retail media drive growth, despite advertisers’ caution

The French advertising market crossed a symbolic milestone in 2026: according to the latest projections from WPP Media published in its report This Year Next Year, media investments will reach €29.7 billion for the year, up 4.9%. A solid figure, driven almost exclusively by two rapidly expanding levers: connected television and retail media. But behind this reported growth lies a typically French paradox, revealed by another study, that of the Union des Marques: more than one advertiser in two actually plans to reduce its budget this year.

Connected television and retail media, drivers of growth

The breakdown of the WPP Media numbers is telling. Connected television (CTV) grows by 24.7% to reach €961 million, driven by the multiplication of advertising offers on streaming platforms. Retail media, advertising displayed directly on retailers' and marketplaces' sites using retailers' purchase data, now weighs €1.66 billion, up 9.2%. By contrast, traditional formats fall sharply: linear television drops 7.9%, magazines 7.4% and daily newspapers 2.9%. Social networks (+7.5%) and advertising in gaming (+9.9%) also confirm their momentum. Globally, growth reaches 8.9%, with France therefore remaining below the international average.

French advertisers more cautious than elsewhere

This is where the problem lies. According to the global study carried out by the Union des Marques, the World Federation of Advertisers and Ebiquity among marketing professionals in 17 countries, 52% of French advertisers anticipate a decrease in their media budget in 2026, contrary to the global trend which remains upward. This budgetary tension is pushing brands to revise their priorities: 29% want to strengthen the share of brand building in their media mix, while only 19% are relying on more pure performance-oriented measures. A sign of the times, 70% of surveyed advertisers plan to strengthen integration between media and creative advertising, and 38% are adjusting their agencies' remuneration towards performance-based models.

What this paradox means for agencies

For webmarketing and SEO agencies, this double movement — growth of the most data-driven digital channels, but advertisers' budgetary caution — requires a rapid evolution of models. Retailers are multiplying retail media ad platforms, forcing agencies to develop expertise dedicated to activating first-party data and precisely measuring return on investment, down to sales analysis by product SKU. This demand for numerical proof also affects e-commerce players, the primary beneficiaries of retail media, as well as all professionals in communication and advertising, called upon to justify every euro invested in a constrained budgetary context.

A lasting reshaping of the advertising landscape

This shift is not unique to France. Globally, retail media investments are expected to exceed those of television for the first time in 2026, a historic tipping point that illustrates the growing role of purchase data in advertising strategies. For advertisers and agencies alike, the challenge is no longer just to capture attention, but to demonstrate, with numbers to back it up, the real effectiveness of each campaign. A requirement likely to structurally shape relations between brands and digital marketing providers for the long term.

Frequently asked questions

What is retail media?

Retail media refers to advertising spaces offered by retailers and merchant sites directly on their platforms, relying on their customers' purchase data to target campaigns with precision. It allows brands to measure the impact of their investments down to the effective sale of a product.

Why is connected television growing so much?

Connected television benefits from the shift in usage towards streaming and the multiplication of advertising offers provided by platforms, which allow more precise targeting than classic linear television, which is in sharp decline.

Why are French advertisers more cautious than the global average?

The French economic context, marked by pressure on companies' budgets, leads more than one in two advertisers to anticipate a reduction in their media spending in 2026, while the trend remains upwards in most of the other countries studied.

Sources

• Influencia — Advertising market 2026: France at €29.7 billion, driven by CTV and retail media
• Union des Marques — Brands' media budgets in France under strain for 2026