Spotify Ads: 1% Growth, Automated Channels Near 40%

€446M — that's what Spotify earned from advertising in the second quarter of 2026. Revenue rose just 1% year over year (3% in constant currency), but a different number mattered far more: automated sales channels delivered nearly 40% of ad revenue, up from just over 30% a quarter earlier.

The gap between weak money growth and brisk growth in everything else has a simple cause — there are now more impressions than demand for them. The audience and the number of advertisers are growing faster than budgets can absorb, so the price per impression is sliding. "Our automated sales channel continued to grow fast and represented nearly 40% of our ad-supported revenue in Quarter 2, up from just over 30% in Quarter 1," said CFO Christian Luiga. The full breakdown is reported by PPC Land.

What stood out in the report:

• active advertisers — 33,000, up 60% year over year;
• ad-supported audience — 494 million monthly, up 14%;
• automated channels — nearly 40% of revenue, versus ~30% a quarter earlier;
• total company revenue — €4.78 billion, up 14%.

For advertisers this is more of an opening than a warning: while supply outpaces demand, reach in audio streaming is cheaper, and you can enter through self-serve — no account managers or large minimum budgets. Spotify's bet on automation means the barrier to audio advertising is dropping, and small businesses should test the channel while impressions are cheap.