Nigeria’s social media advertising market is booming, fuelled by hyper-local targeting that leverages users’ movements and habits.
According to Statista, the sector is projected to hit $148.19 million in revenue in 2026, rising to $216.90 million by 2029, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.68 per cent. Platforms like Facebook (38.7 million ad audience), Instagram (9.9 million), YouTube (27 million), and TikTok (37.4 million adults 18+) dominate this growth.
This surge reflects how location-enriched ads turn everyday digital interactions into a lucrative engine, particularly in Nigeria, which has 109.6 million broadband subscriptions (50.58per centt penetration) and 38.7 million social media profiles (16.4 per cent of the population), according to DataReportal – Global Digital Insights.
Nigerians are beginning to notice how their most private moments can leave digital trails that platforms seem to detect almost instantly. For instance, 37-year-old Jimoh Damilola, a businesswoman in Surulere, Lagos, has always been careful when visiting her fertility clinic, a deeply personal step she takes quietly. Yet just a few hours after her appointment one morning, targeted ads started flooding her feeds. “I started seeing promotions from other fertility clinics, supplements, IVF packages, and success stories from Nigerian women.
“They appeared relentlessly on Instagram, Facebook, and other apps. It felt too precise, too soon. I hadn’t searched anything related, hadn’t liked similar posts, and hadn’t shared my visit anywhere. Yet the ads knew exactly what i needed in my life. It was creepy. One minute I am handling something so intimate, the next my phone is reminding me of it everywhere. It made me question what else these platforms are piecing together about me without my permission,” she told BusinessDay.
A report by Surfshark confirms that leading social apps like Instagram, Facebook, X, Threads, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit may collect location data for advertising even when precise location settings are disabled. Platforms use IP addresses, WiFi, Bluetooth, and other signals to build intimate maps of users’ lives.
“Precise location data paints a far more intimate picture than many realise. A location history updated every 30 minutes could reveal workplace, income, health issues, religious activity, and relationships,” Surfshark said.
Six of the top ten apps openly collect precise location data for third-party advertising. X and Pinterest may track users across apps or websites, sharing data with brokers.
But the stakes go beyond ads. The global “Location of Things” (LoT) market, where connected devices transmit their geographic location, is projected to reach $628.3 billion by 2030 at a 35.4 per cent CAGR, according to Research and Markets. Expert Market Research projects a surge from $25.50 billion in 2024 to $465.43 billion by 2034. Applications like Google Maps, Here Maps, and Apple Maps are already fueling this growth, enabling new waves of location-based services.
LoT includes IoT-enabled devices, from smartphones and cars to wearables and home assistants, that constantly communicate their location, creating massive datasets for businesses, advertisers, and governments. In essence, the same tracking that fuels social media ads in Nigeria is part of a global location economy, with future applications in logistics, healthcare, connected cars, and smart homes.
“Advertising has always followed attention, but today it follows your footsteps. A commuter travelling daily from Ikoyi to Victoria Island may be profiled as a banking professional, targeted with investment ads. A woman visiting a fertility clinic could be flagged for health-related advertising. The ability to track such patterns in real time makes location data one of the most valuable assets in digital marketing,” Jide Awe, innovation and technology policy advisor and founder of Jidaw.com, told BusinessDay.
Nigeria’s young, urban, and digitally connected population generates enormous behavioural data. “Location data essentially makes Nigerian users highly traceable. Campaigns can be geo-targeted down to specific living areas or locations, even in real time. But these benefits carry serious risks around how responsibly platforms handle that data,” Awe said.
David Adeoye Abodunrin, futurist and AI governance expert, warned that digital platforms can map individuals’ lives with unsettling precision. Location-enabled services in smartphones, navigation apps, and cloud platforms can track where users go, how long they stay, who they interact with, and the routines that define their lives. “End to end, your life can be plotted,” he said.
Combined with banking records, communications metadata, and online behaviour, this allows technology companies to predict future choices, interests, and vulnerabilities. This surveillance is not limited to phones. Data from vehicles, smart devices, and enterprise software is often transmitted to servers outside national borders, placing sensitive personal information under foreign control.
“Sovereignty is lost when a nation no longer controls where its data lives or how it is used,” Abodunrin said, adding that the commercial exploitation of location data raises deeper questions about power, consent, and economic extraction, with billions generated globally while users remain vulnerable.
Nigeria has begun addressing these risks through the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA), enforced by the **Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). The law mandates that platforms process personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently, granting users rights to withdraw consent, object to direct marketing, and be informed about data use.
In August 2025, the NDPC issued compliance notices to 1,369 organisations across finance, insurance, gaming, and pensions for suspected NDPA breaches. Firms had 21 days to prove compliance or face fines, enforcement orders, or prosecution. The General Application and Implementation Directive (GAID), effective September 19, 2025, clarifies standards like annual audits and data controller registration. Fines, such as N766.2 million against Multichoice Nigeria, demonstrate growing enforcement.
Yet, experts caution that enforcement is key. “The NDPC must expand capacity, acquire digital forensics tools, conduct regular audits, and publish enforcement data for transparency,” Awe said.
For ordinary Nigerians, options to escape tracking remain limited. Turning off GPS or deleting unused apps helps, but platforms can triangulate positions through indirect signals. VPNs may reduce exposure but are not foolproof. Awe recommends a dual approach: personal vigilance and systemic reform. Users should review app permissions, exercise NDPA rights, and stay informed, while regulators tighten oversight and brands adopt privacy-by-design principles.
“Clear disclosure of how location data is collected and used should not be optional. Big Tech must apply in Nigeria the same compliance standards they follow in Europe or California,” Awe said.
Ultimately, the question is not whether Nigerians’ footsteps fuel Big Tech’s ad economy; they do. The pressing question is how much of private life, from workplaces to clinics to places of worship, is already commoditised without knowledge or consent.
“Data protection is not just about law; it is about trust. Nigerians deserve transparency, accountability, and respect for privacy, otherwise, the very footsteps they take each day become commodities sold to the highest bidder,” Awe averred.
