The category claimed 23.9 percent of $1.26 billion spent on online ads in the country, Ho Chi Minh City-based advertising company Adsota reported.
It was followed by fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) with 12.9 percent and automobiles with 6.7 percent.
“Figures indicate the resources e-commerce businesses are willing to invest in digital advertising in recent years, linked to the “money burning” race of Shopee, Lazada, Sendo and Tiki,” the report stated.
Rising expenditure follows Vietnam’s growing market of internet users. The country ranked 14th in the world in its number of smartphone users at 43.7 million last year, a rate of 44.9 percent.
In number of app downloads, Vietnam ranked second to Indonesia in ASEAN and seventh globally. The most popular app categories in Vietnam are games, photography and social.
Vietnamese spend 2 hours and 33 minutes on social networks, 17 minutes higher than the world average, according to U.K.-based We Are Social.
Vietnam’s online advertising expenditure is set to reach $1.4 billion in 2022.