Social media is now the largest channel worldwide by ad spend, ahead of paid search. Much of this success has been driven by Meta’s remarkable renaissance. Fuelled by growth in spend from Chinese brands and the popularity of its AI tools, Meta is on track to surpass linear TV globally in ad revenue by 2025.
Social’s stronghold on budgets can also be seen in TikTok’s rise, and a return to double-digit ad revenue growth at Snapchat and Pinterest, although Twitter/X is set to see further decline in its ad business.
This Global Ad Trends report examines the latest advertising investment forecasts from WARC Media to understand social’s leading place in the ad market, and the challenges posed by this dominance in rising ad loads, as well as the impact of AI on media planning.
