Top niches in Telegram Ads — 2026 distribution
Which categories dominate Telegram advertising spend right now — distribution, CPM ranges and growth trends.
4 min · updated 2026-05-17
Telegram Ads spend is heavily skewed by niche. As of 2026, a small number of categories account for the majority of impressions and budget. This article gives the live distribution.
#The dominant niches
By creative count across all three cabinets, the 2026 top-5 are:
1. **Crypto / trading / web3** — 22 % of all sponsored impressions
2. **iGaming / casino / betting** — 18 %
3. **Mini-apps / Telegram-native** — 12 %
4. **News / media** — 9 %
5. **VPN / privacy tools** — 7 %
Combined these five niches drive nearly 70 % of Telegram Ads volume. The remaining 30 % is the long tail: fintech, e-commerce, dating, fitness, education, B2B SaaS, etc.
See the live distribution at tgadsspy.com/niches.
#CPM per niche
CPM correlates with auction density:
| Niche | EUR-cabinet CPM | Growth 2025→2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Crypto / trading | €2.5–3.5 | +35 % |
| iGaming | €2.0–3.0 | +15 % |
| VPN | €1.5–2.5 | +28 % |
| Mini-apps | €1.0–2.0 | +180 % (fastest-growing) |
| Fintech | €1.5–2.2 | +8 % |
| News | €0.4–0.8 | -5 % (declining) |
Mini-app advertising is the standout — the category barely existed in 2024 and is now a top-3 spender, driven by Hamster Kombat-era launches.
#Geo split per niche
Each niche has a dominant geo:
- **Crypto / web3** — UAE, Singapore, US, Russia
- **iGaming** — Brazil, India, Tier-3 EU
- **VPN** — Iran, Russia, China-adjacent, MENA
- **Mini-apps** — global, with concentration in CIS + SEA + LATAM
- **News** — country-local (each country buys local-language inventory)
This matters for cabinet choice — TON cabinet dominates crypto, EUR cabinet dominates news/mini-apps/VPN.
#What's growing fast
Niches with 50%+ YoY creative-count growth in 2026:
- **Mini-apps** — +180 %
- **VPN** — +28 %
- **AI tools** — +160 % (new category in 2025)
- **Telegram Stars-paid creators** — +220 % (cashier vertical)
- **Stickers / emoji marketplaces** — +75 %
Niches declining in 2026:
- **News** — -5 % (advertisers shifted to social-native formats)
- **Local services** — -12 % (lost to Google Ads recovery)
#How to use this data
Two practical applications:
1. **Choose where to compete** — if you're entering a new niche, prefer high-growth + medium-CPM segments (mini-apps, AI tools, VPN). High-CPM mature segments (crypto, iGaming) require deeper pockets to land.
2. **Choose where to spend** — if your product fits multiple niches, allocate budget proportional to where your audience actually congregates. Live SoV data per advertiser lives at tgadsspy.com/api/v1/analytics/share-of-voice.
#Data source
All numbers in this article are derived from the public Telegram Ads Spy archive — 51K+ creatives indexed, refreshed every 30 seconds. CC-BY-4.0. Cite as: tgadsspy.com (accessed 2026-05).