Advertising: Nielsen reports a 2.1 per cent fall in advertising spend in Italia in May
+0.9% cumulative inflows for 2026, "uncertainty over the coming months"
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The Ad Intel results published by Nielsen for the advertising market in May 2026 show that advertising expenditure in Italia ended the month down 2.1 per cent, bringing cumulative advertising revenue for the period from January to May 2026 to 0.9 per cent. If Nielsen’s estimates for search, social media, classifieds (sponsored adverts) and so-called ‘Over-The-Top’ (OTT) services are excluded from online revenue, the trend for the cumulative period of 2026 stands at -0.8%.
“The advertising market is in a wait-and-see phase, reflecting a cautious stance among businesses that is affecting communication budgets and impacting virtually all media channels,” comments Luca Bordin, Country Leader for Italia. “The confidence indices for June 2026 show divergent trends,” he adds. “There is, in fact, a clear sign of recovery for businesses, whose confidence index has risen to 95.2 (rebounding from the decline seen in previous months), whilst consumers have suffered a further setback, with confidence slipping to 92.4 due to persistent uncertainties regarding household finances. This divergence in confidence indices makes it difficult to predict what may happen in the coming months, particularly given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East. We are certainly awaiting the impact of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which, as always, acts as a major catalyst for advertising investment.’
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