Digital Marketing Statistics Updated November 2026

Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated

251 Digital Marketing Statistics for 2026

US internet advertising revenue reached $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9%, on the IAB/PwC count. European digital ad spend was €131.1 billion across 30 markets and UK digital ad spend £40.5 billion, each on its own trade body's study. For 2026, dentsu forecasts global advertising spend of $1.06 trillion, WPP Media forecasts advertising revenue of $1.3 trillion and WARC forecasts advertising spend of $1.34 trillion: three separate forecasts on three sets of definitions.

This page gathers digital marketing figures from the bodies and companies that publish them: ad revenue and spend by country, the advertising revenue that Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Pinterest, Snap and Reddit report in their own filings, marketing budgets and pay, video and connected TV, creators, AI in marketing, programmatic waste, privacy and cookies, business use of online advertising and regulation. Every figure links to its publisher, with the date.

The producers measure different things. Trade bodies count revenue or spend in one country or region, agencies publish forecasts, companies report their own revenue for their own fiscal year, and surveys report what marketers or consumers say. We name the producer, the place and the period for every figure and never add figures from different producers together.

Headline figures

  • US internet advertising revenue reached $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9% on 2024, on the IAB/PwC count of revenue reported by companies that sell internet advertising. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report release), Apr 2026)
  • The top 10 companies took 84.1% of US internet advertising revenue in 2025, on the IAB/PwC report. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • European digital advertising spend grew 10.5% in 2025 to €131.1 billion across the 30 national markets in IAB Europe's study. (IAB Europe (AdEx Benchmark 2025 release), Jul 2026)
  • UK digital advertising spend grew 10% in 2025 to £40.5 billion, on IAB UK's Digital Adspend study. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • Dentsu forecast in May 2026 that global advertising spend would grow 5.0% in 2026 to $1.06 trillion, across the 56 markets it analyses. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • WPP Media forecast in June 2026 that global advertising revenue, excluding US political advertising, would grow 8.9% in 2026 to $1.3 trillion. (WPP Media (midyear 2026 forecast), Jun 2026)
  • WARC forecast in October 2026 that global advertising spend would grow 11.9% in 2026 to $1.34 trillion. (WARC (Q3 2026 global forecast), Oct 2026)
  • Alphabet reported Google advertising revenue of $294,691 million worldwide for 2025, up from $264,590 million in 2024. (Alphabet (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)
  • Meta reported advertising revenue of $196,175 million worldwide for 2025, up 22% on 2024. (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Marketing budgets at US for-profit companies stood at 9.0% of company revenues in January 2026, in The CMO Survey of 308 marketing leaders. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • US marketing leaders say AI is used in 24.2% of marketing activities in 2026, up from 13.1% in 2024, in The CMO Survey. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • The ANA's TrueAdSpend Index, the share of programmatic investment that delivers fraud-free, measurable, viewable and MFA-free impressions, was 43.3% in the first quarter of 2026 among its benchmark participants. (ANA (Q1 2026 programmatic benchmark), May 2026)
  • 58.8% of EU internet users chose not to allow their personal data to be used for advertising in 2025, on Eurostat's survey. (Eurostat (data protection, 2025 survey), Jan 2026)
  • US advertising, promotions and marketing managers had median pay of $165,780 a year in 2025, on Bureau of Labor Statistics data. (BLS (OOH: marketing managers), Aug 2026)

How big is digital advertising in the United States?

Nearly $300 billion a year, and still growing at a double-digit rate. The measure is revenue reported by the companies that sell internet advertising in the US, compiled by PwC for IAB, and most of it goes to a small group of sellers.

124,613 2019 139,828 2020 189,310 2021 209,728 2022 224,954 2023 258,571 2024 294,593 2025
View data table
US internet advertising revenue by year, 2019 to 2025, in millions of dollars, from the historical table in the IAB/PwC full-year 2025 report.
PeriodValue
2019124,613
2020139,828
2021189,310
2022209,728
2023224,954
2024258,571
2025294,593
US internet advertising revenue by year, 2019 to 2025, in millions of dollars, from the historical table in the IAB/PwC full-year 2025 report. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • US internet advertising revenue was $258,571 million in 2024 and $224,954 million in 2023, on the report's historical table. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • The same table shows $59,551 million in 2015, $72,640 million in 2016, $88,266 million in 2017 and $107,487 million in 2018. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • Growth on the table was 16% in 2019, 12% in 2020, 35% in 2021, 11% in 2022, 7% in 2023, 15% in 2024 and 14% in 2025. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • US internet advertising revenue was $65,021 million in the first quarter of 2025, $70,015 million in the second, $74,543 million in the third and $85,014 million in the fourth. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • Year-on-year growth in the four quarters of 2025 was 12%, 13%, 15% and 15%. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • Companies ranked 11 to 25 held 8.3% of US internet advertising revenue in 2025 and all remaining companies 7.5%, both lower than in prior years. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • US TV advertising revenue fell 13.4% in 2025, reversing growth of 6.6% the year before, on the media comparison in the IAB/PwC report. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • US advertising revenue in video games and esports grew 22.0% in 2025, while newspapers and consumer magazines declined 3.5%. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • US out-of-home advertising revenue rose 2.2% in 2025, B2B 3.1% and music, radio and podcast 1.3%. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)

IAB/PwC figures cover the United States only and count revenue reported by sellers of internet advertising; PwC compiles the data and does not audit it. The report does not name the companies in its concentration figures. Figures for other media come from PwC data presented in the same report.

What do US ad buyers expect for 2026?

  • US ad buyers surveyed for IAB's 2026 Outlook Study projected total ad spend to grow 9.5% in 2026, against a projection of 5.7% for 2025. (IAB (2026 Outlook Study), Jan 2026)
  • Without the midterm elections, the Olympics and the World Cup, the buyers' projected growth for 2026 falls to a range of 7.1% to 7.8%. (IAB (2026 Outlook Study), Jan 2026)
  • By channel, the buyers projected growth of 14.6% for social media and 12.1% for commerce media in 2026. (IAB (2026 Outlook Study), Jan 2026)

The Outlook Study reports the estimates of 205 US buy-side decision makers in January 2026. It is a projection of spend, not measured revenue, and has a different scope from the IAB/PwC report.

Where does US digital advertising money go?

Social media and search each take about two-fifths of US internet advertising revenue, and social brought in slightly more in 2025 on IAB's category table. The categories overlap, so their shares add up to more than 100%.

  1. 1 Social $117.7bn
  2. 2 Search $114.2bn
  3. 3 Display $81.6bn
  4. 4 Digital video $78bn
  5. 5 Commerce media $63.4bn
  6. 6 Podcast $2.9bn
US internet advertising revenue by category in 2025, in billions of dollars, from the IAB/PwC release. Social and commerce media overlap with the other formats, so the bars do not sum to the total. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report release), Apr 2026)

Social and commerce media cut across the format split of search, display, video and audio, so the category shares overlap and cannot be added together. All figures are US revenue from the IAB/PwC report for full-year 2025.

How much is spent on search advertising in the US?

  • US search advertising revenue grew by $11.4 billion to $114.2 billion in 2025, growth of 11.0%, slower than the 15.9% of 2024. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • Search held 38.8% of US internet advertising revenue in 2025, which the report calls the largest market share. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)

US revenue only. Worldwide search revenue as reported by Alphabet and Microsoft is in the Google section below.

How much US advertising is bought programmatically?

  • US programmatic advertising revenue (excluding search) reached $162.4 billion in 2025, up $27.6 billion or 20.5%, after growth of 18.0% in 2024. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • US programmatic revenue was $99.0 billion in 2021, $109.4 billion in 2022, $114.2 billion in 2023 and $134.8 billion in 2024. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • Non-programmatic placements (excluding search) declined 13.9% in 2025 but still totalled $18.0 billion. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)
  • Non-programmatic placements were $12.0 billion in 2021, $16.0 billion in 2022, $22.0 billion in 2023 and $20.9 billion in 2024. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report), Apr 2026)

How big are digital audio and podcast advertising in the US?

How much is spent on advertising worldwide?

More than $1 trillion a year on each of the three forecasts below, which disagree on both the 2026 total and its growth rate. Dentsu, WPP Media and WARC each use their own definitions and market coverage, so their figures sit side by side and are never combined.

  1. 1 APAC +5.9%
  2. 2 Americas +4.8%
  3. 3 EMEA +3.6%
Forecast growth in advertising spend in 2026 by region, in dentsu's forecast of May 2026. Other forecasters are not shown because their definitions differ. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • Dentsu's May 2026 forecast has global ad spend growth of 5.5% in 2027, following 5.8% in 2025, and says worldwide spend passed $1 trillion in 2025. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • Digital takes a 69% share of ad spend in dentsu's forecast, which covers 56 markets. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • By region, dentsu forecasts 2026 ad spend growth of 4.8% in the Americas, 3.6% in EMEA and 5.9% in APAC. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • Dentsu names government, social, political and organisations (12.8%), technology (12.5%), beverages (10.9%) and media and entertainment (6.4%) as the advertiser categories leading spend growth in 2026. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • Dentsu expects global search ad spend growth to moderate to 3.4% in 2026, and retail media to grow 12.3% in 2026 and 11.4% in 2027. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • Dentsu expects algorithmically enabled ad spend, where algorithms are significantly involved in the buying decision, to reach 75% of total ad spend by 2028. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • WPP Media's June 2026 growth forecast for 2026 was an upward revision from the 7.1% it forecast in December 2025. (WPP Media (midyear 2026 forecast), Jun 2026)
  • WPP Media estimates that Alphabet, Meta and Amazon, the top three sellers outside China, control 57.6% of advertising revenue outside China. (WPP Media (midyear 2026 forecast), Jun 2026)
  • WPP Media projects generative search advertising to grow from $5.1 billion in 2026 to over $100 billion by 2030. (WPP Media (midyear 2026 forecast), Jun 2026)
  • WARC's October 2026 forecast has growth moderating in 2027, with global ad spend rising 8.4% to $1.46 trillion. (WARC (Q3 2026 global forecast), Oct 2026)
  • WARC expects social media to register the strongest growth in spend in 2026, up 21.3% to $394.6 billion. (WARC (Q3 2026 global forecast), Oct 2026)
  • In December 2025 WARC estimated that global advertising spend would close 2025 with growth of 8.9% to $1.19 trillion, an upgrade of 1.5 percentage points from its September forecast. (WARC (2025/26 outlook release), Dec 2025)
  • WARC put the combined share of Alphabet, Amazon and Meta at 56.1% of ad spend outside China in 2025, equal to $556.6 billion. (WARC (2025/26 outlook release), Dec 2025)

These are three separate forecasts. Dentsu (27 May 2026) forecasts advertising spend across 56 markets. WPP Media (June 2026) forecasts advertising revenue and excludes US political advertising. WARC (7 October 2026) forecasts global advertising spend; its figures here come from the public summary of a subscriber report, and its 2025 figure is a year-end estimate made in December 2025. The totals, growth rates and platform shares are not averaged, added or charted together.

How big is digital advertising in Europe, Australia and Canada?

Europe's digital ad market is about half the size of the US market on IAB Europe's own comparison, and it grew more slowly in 2025. Europe here means the 30 national markets in IAB Europe's study, which is wider than the European Union.

  1. 1 Video +19.6%
  2. 2 Social +19.2%
  3. 3 Retail media +16.7%
  4. 4 Display +12.5%
  5. 5 Paid search +8.8%
  6. 6 Classifieds +6.5%
Growth in European digital advertising spend in 2025 by format, across the 30 markets in IAB Europe's study. Formats overlap: social video sits inside both video and social. (IAB Europe (AdEx Benchmark 2025 release), Jul 2026)

IAB Europe covers 30 national markets in constant 2025 euros, and its 2024 figure is the restated one. Its US comparison uses IAB US data converted to euros. Retail media here means search and display formats on retailer-owned properties. Australian and Canadian figures are in local currency and come from each country's own IAB study, so the markets are not ranked against each other.

How big is internet advertising in Australia?

How big is internet advertising in Canada?

  • Canadian internet advertising revenue reached C$18.2 billion (C$18,202 million) in 2024, up 14.3%. (IAB Canada (2024 revenue survey), Oct 2025)
  • In Canada in 2024, search brought in C$7,960 million, social media C$5,423 million, video C$2,208 million and display C$2,005 million. (IAB Canada (2024 revenue survey), Oct 2025)
  • Canadian audio advertising revenue was C$258 million in 2024, classifieds C$194 million and digital out-of-home C$153 million. (IAB Canada (2024 revenue survey), Oct 2025)
  • IAB Canada forecast C$21.2 billion of internet advertising revenue for 2025, a forecast it described as conservative. (IAB Canada (2024 revenue survey), Oct 2025)

The 2024 survey, published in October 2025, is the latest IAB Canada edition used here; its 2025 figure is a forecast.

How much is spent on advertising in the UK?

It depends on the scope. IAB UK counts digital advertising only, while the Advertising Association and WARC count all media, so the two totals are set out separately and are not compared.

  1. 1 Search £17,876.1m
  2. 2 Social media £11,515.4m
  3. 3 TV £5,216.1m
  4. 4 Retail media £3,749.9m
  5. 5 Other online display £2,513.4m
  6. 6 Published media £1,552.2m
  7. 7 Out of home £1,426.3m
  8. 8 Direct mail £966.9m
  9. 9 Online classified £899.3m
  10. 10 Radio £747.3m
  11. 11 Cinema £219.8m
UK advertising spend by medium in 2025, in millions of pounds, from the AA/WARC Expenditure Report. This is the all-media measure, not IAB UK's digital-only study. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • Search accounted for 44% of UK digital ad spend in 2025, with investment up 6% to £17.9 billion, on IAB UK's study. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • UK social media ad spend rose 21% in 2025 to £11.5 billion, 28% of the digital market, on IAB UK's study. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • Video took 23% of UK digital ad spend in 2025 at £9.3 billion, up 20%, on IAB UK's study. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • IAB UK put retail media at £3.8 billion in 2025, up 18%, digital out-of-home at £1.1 billion, up 3%, and gaming at £1.3 billion, up 11%. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • IAB UK forecast in March 2026 that the UK digital ad market would grow 10.3% in 2026 to £44.7 billion and reach £49.1 billion by 2027. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • 57% of respondents to IAB UK's industry survey expect digital budgets to increase in 2026, with video, retail media and digital out-of-home forecast to see the strongest gains. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • Across all media, UK advertising investment rose 6.4% in 2025 to £46.7 billion (£46,682.7 million), on the AA/WARC Expenditure Report. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • On the AA/WARC all-media measure, search took 38.3% of UK advertising investment in 2025, social media 24.7% and TV 11.2%. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • UK TV advertising spend was £5,216.1 million in 2025, down 1.2%, of which addressable TV was £1,839.0 million, up 37.0%, on AA/WARC data. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • AA/WARC put UK retail media at £3,749.9 million in 2025, up 17.5%, while other online display fell 20.0% to £2,513.4 million. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • UK out of home advertising spend was £1,426.3 million in 2025, up 2.3%, of which digital was £954.6 million, up 3.0%, and published media fell 5.1% to £1,552.2 million, on AA/WARC data. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • AA/WARC put UK direct mail at £966.9 million in 2025 (up 0.3%), online classified at £899.3 million (down 2.2%), radio at £747.3 million (up 1.4%) and cinema at £219.8 million (up 3.4%). (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • UK advertising investment across all media grew 11.0% year on year to £12.3 billion in the second quarter of 2026, on the AA/WARC report. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, October 2026), Oct 2026)
  • In October 2026 AA/WARC forecast total UK advertising expenditure of £51.3 billion for 2026, up 9.9%, and £54.7 billion for 2027, up 6.5%. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, October 2026), Oct 2026)
  • AA/WARC forecast UK advertising investment of £14.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2026, up 8.2% year on year. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, October 2026), Oct 2026)

The two UK totals have different scope. IAB UK's Digital Adspend study, run with Oliver Wyman, covers digital advertising only, and video overlaps with social in it. The AA/WARC Expenditure Report covers all media, including TV, print, radio, cinema, direct mail and out of home, in nominal terms, with channel definitions refreshed in the April 2026 release. The two are not added, averaged or compared, and the 2026 and 2027 figures from each are forecasts.

Are UK marketing budgets rising?

  • 25.6% of companies on the IPA Bellwether panel raised their marketing budgets in the third quarter of 2026 and 11.3% reported a reduction, a net balance of +14.3%, up from +6.9% in the second quarter. (IPA Bellwether (Q3 2026 release), Oct 2026)
  • By category, the Bellwether net balance in the third quarter of 2026 was +15.3% for public relations, which the release calls a series high, +15.1% for events and +13.1% for sales promotion. (IPA Bellwether (Q3 2026 release), Oct 2026)
  • UK main media advertising budgets had a net balance of +9.8% in the third quarter of 2026, up from +1.5% in the second quarter. (IPA Bellwether (Q3 2026 release), Oct 2026)
  • Direct marketing and market research each had a net balance of +5.2% in the third quarter of 2026, and the other category +1.0%. (IPA Bellwether (Q3 2026 release), Oct 2026)
  • Within UK main media, the third-quarter 2026 net balance was +17.2% for other online, +3.6% for out-of-home, +1.1% for audio and +0.8% for published brands. (IPA Bellwether (Q3 2026 release), Oct 2026)
  • The Bellwether adspend forecast for 2026 improved to 2.8% from 2.1%, while growth for 2027 was revised down from 2.3% to 1.3%, with 2.4% expected for 2028. (IPA Bellwether (Q3 2026 release), Oct 2026)

A Bellwether net balance is the share of panel companies raising a budget minus the share cutting it. It shows the direction of budget revisions, not the amount of spend. The Bellwether adspend forecast is made by S&P Global Market Intelligence for the IPA on its own model and is not comparable with the AA/WARC forecast above.

How much do Meta, Amazon and other platforms make from advertising?

Each company reports its own figure for its own fiscal year and draws the line around advertising differently. The figures below are given company by company and are not added together or turned into market shares.

131,948 2023 160,633 2024 196,175 2025
View data table
Advertising revenue reported by Meta, worldwide, 2023 to 2025, in millions of dollars, from its 10-K for fiscal 2025.
PeriodValue
2023131,948
2024160,633
2025196,175
Advertising revenue reported by Meta, worldwide, 2023 to 2025, in millions of dollars, from its 10-K for fiscal 2025. (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Meta's advertising revenue was $160,633 million in 2024 and $131,948 million in 2023; the 2024 figure was also an increase of 22%. (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Meta's total revenue was $200,966 million in 2025. (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Ad impressions delivered across Meta's Family of Apps increased 12% in 2025 and the average price per ad increased 9%. (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)
  • Meta's Family daily active people averaged 3.58 billion in December 2025, up 7% year over year. (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)
  • By user geography, Meta's revenue grew 21% in the United States and Canada in 2025, 24% in Europe, 20% in Asia-Pacific and 27% in Rest of World. (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)

These are each company's own reported figures, worldwide, for its own fiscal year: calendar years for Meta, Amazon, Pinterest, Snap and Reddit, and the year to 30 June for Microsoft. Pinterest, Snap and Reddit figures are total revenue, and each filing describes in its own terms how much of that is advertising. No figures are added across companies and no market shares are computed.

How much does Amazon make from advertising?

  • Amazon's advertising services net sales were $21,317 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 23% year over year, or 22% excluding foreign exchange. (Amazon (Q4 2025 results), Feb 2026)
  • Amazon's advertising services net sales were $17,288 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, $13,921 million in the first quarter of 2025, $15,694 million in the second and $17,703 million in the third. (Amazon (Q4 2025 results), Feb 2026)

Amazon's results release prints quarterly advertising figures and no full-year total, and this page does not add the quarters up.

How much revenue does Pinterest report?

  • Pinterest revenue was $4,221.8 million in 2025, $3,646.2 million in 2024 and $3,055.1 million in 2023; the company says it generates substantially all of its revenue from advertising. (Pinterest (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)
  • Pinterest's 2025 revenue was $3,173.1 million in the US and Canada (up 10%), $775.0 million in Europe (up 31%) and $273.6 million in Rest of World (up 62%). (Pinterest (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)
  • Pinterest had 619 million global monthly active users at the end of 2025, up 12%, and global average revenue per user of $7.21 for the year: $30.84 in the US and Canada, $5.12 in Europe and $0.83 in Rest of World. (Pinterest (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)

How much revenue does Snap report?

  • Snap revenue was $5,931.4 million in 2025, $5,361.4 million in 2024 and $4,606.1 million in 2023; 2025 growth was 11%. (Snap (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)
  • Snap's advertising revenue rose by $282.4 million in 2025 and its other revenue, mainly subscriptions, by $287.6 million. (Snap (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)
  • Snapchat had 474 million daily active users in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 5% year over year, and average revenue per user of $3.62 in the quarter, against $3.44 a year earlier. (Snap (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)

How much revenue does Reddit report?

  • Reddit revenue was $2,202.5 million in 2025, $1,300.2 million in 2024 and $804.0 million in 2023; 2025 revenue grew 69%. (Reddit (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)
  • About 94% of Reddit's revenue in 2025 came from third-party advertising, against about 91% in 2024. (Reddit (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)
  • Reddit's ten largest advertisers accounted for about 21% of its revenue in 2025, down from about 25% in 2024. (Reddit (Form 10-K 2025), Feb 2026)

How much revenue does LinkedIn bring in?

  • Microsoft reported LinkedIn revenue of $19,817 million for fiscal 2026, $17,812 million for fiscal 2025 and $16,372 million for fiscal 2024. (Microsoft (2026 Annual Report), Jul 2026)

LinkedIn revenue includes lines other than advertising, so it is not an advertising figure.

How much do US companies spend on marketing?

Less than a tenth of revenue on average, and budgets are growing slowly while digital takes more of them. The figures come from The CMO Survey, which asks marketing leaders at US for-profit companies and reports averages of their answers.

  1. 1 B2C product 12.0%
  2. 2 B2B services 10.1%
  3. 3 B2C services 7.2%
  4. 4 B2B product 7.0%
Marketing budgets as a share of company revenues by sector at US for-profit companies, January 2026, in The CMO Survey. Sector subsamples are small. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Marketing budgets were 9.6% of overall company budgets at US companies in January 2026, which the survey calls their lowest level since 2021. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Overall marketing spending at US companies grew 1.7% over the prior 12 months, which the survey calls the weakest growth rate since 2021, while digital marketing spending grew 8.2%. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • US marketing leaders project traditional advertising to decline a further 1.5% in the coming year. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • By sector, US marketing budgets as a share of company revenues were 7.0% for B2B product companies, 10.1% for B2B services, 12.0% for B2C product and 7.2% for B2C services. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • As a share of the overall company budget, marketing took 7.0% at B2B product companies, 9.2% at B2B services, 13.8% at B2C product and 11.5% at B2C services. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Digital marketing spending over the prior 12 months grew 4.1% at B2B product companies, 7.1% at B2B services, 12.6% at B2C product and 16.6% at B2C services. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Overall marketing spending over the prior 12 months changed by -0.2% at B2B product companies, +2.8% at B2B services, +0.9% at B2C product and +8.0% at B2C services. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Social media accounted for 14.3% of US marketing budgets in January 2026, and marketers predicted 17.1% in one year and 23.1% in five years. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • The survey's own record shows that 12-month projections for social media spending have exceeded actual spending by an average of 2.1 percentage points. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • When profits fall short of expectations, 53.1% of US companies focus on cutting expenses, up from 46.0% a year earlier, and marketing expenses are the ones cut 45.4% of the time. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Customer acquisition budgets at US companies are 26.0% larger than retention budgets, up from 19.6% a year earlier. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • US marketing leaders reported customer retention growing 12.8%, ahead of brand value at 10.0% and customer acquisition at 7.4%. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • 57.6% of US companies increased the number of marketing channels they use over the past three years and 6.7% decreased it. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Among the channels added, 47.9% of US companies opened digital channels, 38.8% added social selling, 30.3% opened new face-to-face channels, 23.6% adopted retail media and 20.0% added a direct-to-consumer channel. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • The barriers US marketers name to getting more from marketing technology are lack of budget (20.1%), technology integration and data architecture (19.1%), bandwidth, time and focus (14.1%) and talent management (13.1%). (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)

The CMO Survey questioned 308 marketing leaders at US for-profit companies from 7 to 29 January 2026. Its figures are averages of what respondents report, not audited spending, and the sector subsamples are small. Predictions for future years are the respondents' own.

How fast are marketing teams growing, and what do marketing jobs pay?

  • Marketing headcount at US companies grew 2.5% over the past year, down from 5.4% in 2025, with growth of 2.6% projected for the year ahead. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Training and development stands at 3.8% of US marketing budgets, down from a pre-pandemic high of 5.8%. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • US advertising, promotions and marketing managers held 454,800 jobs in 2025, and employment is projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, a change of 27,900 jobs, with about 36,300 openings a year. (BLS (OOH: marketing managers), Aug 2026)
  • The US median annual wage in May 2025 was $166,790 for marketing managers and $133,660 for advertising and promotions managers. (BLS (OOH: marketing managers), Aug 2026)
  • US market research analysts and marketing specialists had median pay of $78,760 a year in 2025 and held 952,700 jobs. (BLS (OOH: market research analysts), Aug 2026)
  • Employment of US market research analysts is projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, a change of 66,300 jobs, with about 82,000 openings a year. (BLS (OOH: market research analysts), Aug 2026)

Headcount and training figures are from The CMO Survey. Pay and job counts are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics; its growth figures for 2025 to 2035 are projections.

How fast is video and connected TV advertising growing?

Faster than the wider ad market on each release below. The three connected TV growth figures for 2026 come from different releases with different scope, so each is stated with its source and they do not form one series.

  1. 1 Streaming 48.6%
  2. 2 Cable 20.4%
  3. 3 Broadcast 19.2%
Share of total US TV watch-time by category in May 2026, in Nielsen's The Gauge. The three categories shown do not cover all TV use, and this is viewing, not ad spend. (Nielsen (The Gauge, May 2026), Jul 2026)
  • IAB projected in May 2026 that US digital video ad spending would surpass $80 billion in 2026, growing 11% year over year. (IAB (2026 Digital Video report), May 2026)
  • In IAB's May 2026 video report, US social video ad spend is projected to grow 13% in 2026 and connected TV 11%. (IAB (2026 Digital Video report), May 2026)
  • IAB expects digital video to exceed 60% of total US TV and video ad spend in 2026, which it says would be the first time. (IAB (2026 Digital Video report), May 2026)
  • US ad buyers surveyed for IAB's 2026 Outlook Study in January 2026 projected their connected TV spend to grow 13.8% in 2026. (IAB (2026 Outlook Study), Jan 2026)
  • In dentsu's global forecast of May 2026, connected TV ad spend rises 11.5% in 2026 and digital video 8.7%, while linear TV is flat at 0.0% and total video grows 5.1%. (dentsu (May 2026 ad spend forecast), May 2026)
  • Streaming accounted for 48.6% of total US TV watch-time in May 2026, against 19.2% for broadcast and 20.4% for cable, on Nielsen's measurement. (Nielsen (The Gauge, May 2026), Jul 2026)
  • YouTube held 13.8% of US TV watch-time in May 2026, which Nielsen calls a platform best, with Disney at 10.0% and Netflix at 8.0%. (Nielsen (The Gauge, May 2026), Jul 2026)

The connected TV figures are not one series. IAB's video report (May 2026) is a US projection of spend on connected TV, online video and social video. IAB's Outlook Study (January 2026) reports what 205 US buy-side decision makers expected for their own spend. Dentsu's forecast (May 2026) is global. IAB's video report also uses different definitions from the IAB/PwC revenue report. Nielsen measures viewing on TV screens, not advertising.

How much is spent on creators, out-of-home and other channels?

Creator advertising is worth tens of billions of dollars a year in the US on IAB's estimate, and IAB says it is growing faster than the wider ad market. Out-of-home is growing through its digital screens, and email still reaches most people online.

  1. 1 Building brand awareness 43%
  2. 2 Reaching new audiences 41%
  3. 3 Brand reputation or trust 35%
  4. 4 Online sales or conversions 32%
Top goals for creator campaigns among US ad buyers, in IAB's 2025 creator economy report. The release does not state the sample size. (IAB (2025 Creator Economy report), Nov 2025)
  • US creator advertising spend reached $37 billion in 2025 on IAB's own estimate, and IAB projects $44 billion in 2026. (IAB/PwC (FY2025 revenue report release), Apr 2026)
  • US creator economy ad spend rose from $13.9 billion in 2021 to $29.5 billion in 2024, and IAB projected in November 2025 a 26% increase for 2025. (IAB (2025 Creator Economy report), Nov 2025)
  • 48% of US ad spenders consider creators a must buy, behind only social media and paid search, in IAB's survey. (IAB (2025 Creator Economy report), Nov 2025)
  • The top goals US ad buyers set for creator campaigns are building brand awareness (43%), reaching new audiences (41%), brand reputation or trust (35%) and online sales or conversions (32%). (IAB (2025 Creator Economy report), Nov 2025)
  • 95% of US advertisers have concerns about using AI in creator marketing, in IAB's survey. (IAB (2025 Creator Economy report), Nov 2025)

Creator ad spend is IAB's own definition and estimate for the US. It overlaps with social and video advertising, so it is not added to other channel figures. The 2026 figure is an IAB projection.

How big is out-of-home advertising in the US?

  • US out of home advertising revenue reached $9.46 billion in 2025, up 3.6%, which the trade association OAAA called a record, extending growth to 19 consecutive quarters. (OAAA (2025 revenue release), Mar 2026)
  • Digital out of home accounted for 36.3% of total US out of home revenue in 2025 and grew 10.5%. (OAAA (2025 revenue release), Mar 2026)

OAAA is the US out of home trade association and this is its own revenue estimate. It is a different source from the out-of-home growth figure in the IAB/PwC report.

How widely is email used, and how do email teams use AI?

  • 82% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU sent or received emails in 2025, matching the share who used instant messaging. (Eurostat (households and individuals), Dec 2025)
  • In 2025, 76% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU made telephone or video calls online and 67% took part in social networks. (Eurostat (households and individuals), Dec 2025)
  • The share of people sending or receiving emails in 2025 was 98% in the Netherlands, 97% in Denmark and 95% in both Ireland and Finland. (Eurostat (households and individuals), Dec 2025)
  • 36% of email teams that report a return of 36:1 or higher also report advanced AI adoption, against 23% of lower-return teams, in Litmus's own survey. (Litmus (State of Email 2026), 2026)

Eurostat counts activity in the three months before its survey. Litmus sells email software; its one-page summary does not state the sample size, dates or countries, and the returns are reported by respondents, so treat the figure as indicative.

What do B2B marketers say about their own marketing?

Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs surveyed 861 B2B marketers, mostly from North America, from 23 June to 11 August 2026. The sample is drawn from their own audiences.

How are marketers using AI?

Mostly to make and personalise content, and use has nearly doubled in two years on The CMO Survey. Vendor and trade surveys report wider adoption, but they ask different people different questions.

  1. 1 Content creation 73.9%
  2. 2 Content personalisation 65.4%
  3. 3 Optimising content and timing 49.5%
  4. 4 Marketing automation 48.9%
  5. 5 Data analysis and reporting 46.3%
  6. 6 Targeting decisions 45.2%
  7. 7 Predictive analytics 41.5%
  8. 8 Generative engine optimisation 41.5%
  9. 9 Customer segmentation 35.6%
  10. 10 Programmatic and media buying 32.4%
How US companies use AI in marketing, January 2026, in The CMO Survey. Respondents could tick every use that applied. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Generative AI use at US companies rose from 7.0% of marketing activities in 2024 to 22.4% in 2026. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • US companies project that AI will account for 55.9% of marketing activities within three years. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • US companies use AI in marketing for content creation (73.9%), content personalisation (65.4%), improving return by optimising content and timing (49.5%), marketing automation (48.9%) and data analysis and reporting (46.3%). (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Further uses of AI at US companies are targeting decisions (45.2%), predictive analytics (41.5%), generative engine optimisation (41.5%), customer segmentation (35.6%) and programmatic advertising and media buying (32.4%). (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • Since the survey's fall 2023 edition, content creation with AI has risen from 49.2%, marketing automation from 28.0% and data analysis and reporting from 24.8%, while programmatic advertising and media buying has slipped from 35.0%. (The CMO Survey (2026 report), Apr 2026)
  • 96% of US ad buyers are aware of agentic AI ad buying, and five of their top six focus areas for 2026 centre on AI, in IAB's survey of 205 buy-side decision makers. (IAB (2026 Outlook Study), Jan 2026)
  • Two in three US digital video ad buyers are live with (21%), testing (20%) or planning to use (25%) agentic AI for digital video campaigns in 2026, and another 28% are investigating it. (IAB (2026 Digital Video report), May 2026)
  • 75% of marketers are turning to AI to help produce personalised content, and 78% say they need more personalised content than they are able to produce, in Salesforce's global survey of 4,450 marketing decision makers. (Salesforce (State of Marketing, 10th edition), Feb 2026)
  • In the same Salesforce survey, 84% of marketers say they run generic campaigns and 69% struggle to respond promptly to customers. (Salesforce (State of Marketing, 10th edition), Feb 2026)
  • 85% of marketers in Salesforce's survey say AI is reshaping their SEO strategy, and 88% have begun optimising for AI-generated responses. (Salesforce (State of Marketing, 10th edition), Feb 2026)
  • 64% of marketers in Salesforce's survey say they are struggling to keep up with changing customer behaviours, and 48% have not worked out how to adapt their strategies to the widespread use of AI. (Salesforce (State of Marketing, 10th edition), Feb 2026)
  • 83% of marketers in Salesforce's survey say customers now expect two-way conversations, and 81% would trust AI to respond to customers. (Salesforce (State of Marketing, 10th edition), Feb 2026)
  • Only 58% of marketers in Salesforce's survey have complete access to service data, 56% to sales data and 51% to commerce data, and 98% hit barriers to personalisation. (Salesforce (State of Marketing, 10th edition), Feb 2026)
  • 88% of B2B marketers say their organisation uses AI-powered content creation tools, and 60% of those expanded their use compared with a year ago. (CMI/MarketingProfs (2027 B2B report), Nov 2026)
  • 59% of B2B marketers are using or experimenting with AI agents, up from 28% a year earlier: 13% say agents are a core part of their marketing strategy and 46% experiment with them. (CMI/MarketingProfs (2027 B2B report), Nov 2026)
  • Asked what AI contributes, 78% of B2B marketers name speed, 59% efficiency, 44% volume and 17% quality. (CMI/MarketingProfs (2027 B2B report), Nov 2026)

The surveys are not comparable. The CMO Survey asks 308 marketing leaders at US for-profit companies what share of marketing activities uses AI, and its three-year figure is the respondents' projection. Salesforce sells marketing software and surveyed 4,450 marketing decision makers across North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe from 8 October to 17 November 2025. CMI and MarketingProfs surveyed 861 B2B marketers, mostly in North America. IAB's figures cover US ad buyers.

How much programmatic ad spend reaches real, viewable ads?

Less than half, on the ANA's benchmark of its participating advertisers. The gap between the best and worst buyers is wide, and the benchmark is not a census of all programmatic spend.

  1. 1 Higher-performing advertisers 54.0%
  2. 2 TrueAdSpend Index (market level) 43.3%
  3. 3 Lower-performing advertisers 32.1%
Share of programmatic spend that became qualified impressions in the first quarter of 2026, for the ANA benchmark as a whole and for its higher and lower performing groups. (ANA (Q1 2026 programmatic benchmark), May 2026)
  • Higher-performing advertisers converted 54.0% of programmatic spend into qualified impressions in the first quarter of 2026, and the lower-performing group 32.1%. (ANA (Q1 2026 programmatic benchmark), May 2026)
  • Exposure to made-for-advertising sites increased to 1.1% in the first quarter of 2026, after remaining between 0.4% and 0.6% throughout 2025, among ANA benchmark participants. (ANA (Q1 2026 programmatic benchmark), May 2026)
  • The higher-performing group paid $7.46 per thousand qualified impressions in the first quarter of 2026, against $19.04 for the lower-performing group. (ANA (Q1 2026 programmatic benchmark), May 2026)
  • Programmatic CPMs among ANA benchmark participants declined from $5.55 in the fourth quarter of 2025 to $4.42 in the first quarter of 2026. (ANA (Q1 2026 programmatic benchmark), May 2026)
  • In the fourth quarter of 2025, advertisers with disciplined quality governance converted 56.7% of programmatic spend into benchmark-qualified impressions, against 37.5% for lower performers. (ANA (Q4 2025 programmatic benchmark), Feb 2026)
  • The proportion of advertisers above the 50% threshold declined from 50.0% in the third quarter of 2025 to 43.8% in the fourth. (ANA (Q4 2025 programmatic benchmark), Feb 2026)
  • Private marketplaces accounted for over 92% of median spend and 100% of connected TV transactions in the fourth quarter of 2025, and connected TV for about 40% of programmatic spend. (ANA (Q4 2025 programmatic benchmark), Feb 2026)
  • The share of programmatic ad spend reaching publishers rose to 47.1% in the third quarter of 2025, up 11 points since 2023. (ANA (Q3 2025 programmatic benchmark), Nov 2025)
  • 99.1% of programmatic ad spend among ANA benchmark participants ran in low-risk environments in the third quarter of 2025. (ANA (Q3 2025 programmatic benchmark), Nov 2025)
  • The ANA estimated in August 2025 that $26.8 billion in global media value is lost each year to inefficiencies. (ANA (Q2 2025 programmatic benchmark), Aug 2025)
  • Connected TV's share of programmatic spend among ANA benchmark participants rose from 30.4% to 44.2% in the second quarter of 2025. (ANA (Q2 2025 programmatic benchmark), Aug 2025)
  • The private marketplace share of spend rose from 64.5% to 87.8% in the second quarter of 2025, with private marketplace CPMs averaging $7.15 against $4.41 on the open marketplace. (ANA (Q2 2025 programmatic benchmark), Aug 2025)

The ANA benchmark is built from the programmatic buying data of the advertisers that take part, mainly US national advertisers, and is not a census of the market. Qualified means fraud-free, measurable, viewable and free of made-for-advertising sites. Each quarter is a separate release and the mix of participants changes, so quarters are not a strict series. The $26.8 billion figure is the ANA's own estimate.

What do consumers do about online tracking and their data?

Most take at least one step to limit it. In the EU a majority of internet users refuse advertising use of their data, and in the US most adults told Pew in 2023 that they have little control over what companies do with it.

  1. 1 Refused use of data for advertising 58.8%
  2. 2 Restricted or refused location access 56.2%
  3. 3 Limited access to profile or shared storage 46.0%
  4. 4 Checked the website was secure 39.0%
  5. 5 Read privacy policy statements 37.6%
Steps EU internet users took to manage access to their personal data online in 2025, on Eurostat's survey. People could take more than one step. (Eurostat (data protection, 2025 survey), Jan 2026)
  • 76.9% of EU internet users took steps to manage access to their personal data online in 2025, up 3.7 percentage points from 73.2% in 2023. (Eurostat (data protection, 2025 survey), Jan 2026)
  • 56.2% of EU internet users restricted or refused access to their geographical location in 2025, and 46.0% limited access to their social media profile or shared storage. (Eurostat (data protection, 2025 survey), Jan 2026)
  • Refusing advertising use of personal data and restricting location access rose by 4.5 and 5.4 percentage points among EU internet users over the two years to 2025. (Eurostat (data protection, 2025 survey), Jan 2026)
  • 39.0% of EU internet users checked that the website where they provided personal data was secure in 2025, and 37.6% read privacy policy statements before sharing personal data. (Eurostat (data protection, 2025 survey), Jan 2026)
  • The share of internet users who took measures to protect their data in 2025 was highest in Finland (92.6%), the Netherlands (91.2%) and Czechia (90.3%), and lowest in Romania (56.0%), Slovenia (57.4%) and Bulgaria (62.0%). (Eurostat (data protection, 2025 survey), Jan 2026)

Eurostat's figures cover people in the EU who used the internet in the three months before the survey, and the question is asked every two years. Pew's figures cover US adults in 2023. The two surveys ask different questions and are not compared.

How many people in the EU are online, and what do they do there?

The reference periods for finding information and for buying online differ in Eurostat's survey, so the two shares are given separately.

How do Americans view data privacy?

  • In a May 2023 Pew survey, 67% of US adults said they understand little to nothing about what companies do with their personal data, up from 59% in 2019. (Pew Research Center (2023 privacy survey), Oct 2023)
  • 73% of US adults in the 2023 Pew survey believed they have little to no control over what companies do with their data. (Pew Research Center (2023 privacy survey), Oct 2023)
  • 56% of US adults in the 2023 Pew survey said they frequently click "agree" on privacy policies without reading them. (Pew Research Center (2023 privacy survey), Oct 2023)
  • 61% of US adults in the 2023 Pew survey thought privacy policies are ineffective at explaining how companies use people's data, and 69% viewed them as just something to get past. (Pew Research Center (2023 privacy survey), Oct 2023)
  • 72% of US adults in the 2023 Pew survey said there should be more regulation of what companies can do with people's data and 7% said less; 78% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans wanted more. (Pew Research Center (2023 privacy survey), Oct 2023)

Pew surveyed 5,101 US adults from 15 to 21 May 2023 and published the results in October 2023. It is the latest edition of this study and is older than most figures on this page.

What happened to third-party cookies in Chrome?

  • Google said on 22 April 2025 that Chrome would keep its current approach to third-party cookie choice and would not roll out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies. (Google (Privacy Sandbox update, April 2025), Apr 2025)
  • On 17 October 2025 Google said it would retire Privacy Sandbox technologies including Topics, Protected Audience and the Attribution Reporting API, citing their low levels of adoption. (Google (Privacy Sandbox update, October 2025), Oct 2025)
  • The UK Competition and Markets Authority decided on 17 October 2025 to release the commitments it had accepted from Google in February 2022 over the Privacy Sandbox browser changes. (CMA (Privacy Sandbox case page), Oct 2025)

How are cookie and data rules enforced?

  • The UK Information Commissioner's Office says it brought 979 of the top 1,000 UK websites into cookie compliance in 2025/26, giving around 40 million people greater control over how organisations track them online. (ICO (Annual Report 2025/26), Jul 2026)
  • The ICO received 76,743 data protection complaints in 2025/26, up from 42,315 in 2024/25. (ICO (Annual Report 2025/26), Jul 2026)
  • 17,431 data breaches were reported to the ICO in 2025/26, up from 12,412 in 2024/25. (ICO (Annual Report 2025/26), Jul 2026)
  • France's data protection authority, the CNIL, fined Google €325 million and Shein €150 million in September 2025, in particular for failing to comply with the rules on cookies. (CNIL (cookie fines), Sep 2025)

The ICO's cookie figures are the regulator's own account of its programme, and the 40 million is its estimate. Its complaint and breach counts cover every kind of data protection case, of which marketing and cookies are one part.

How many businesses advertise online?

About a third of EU enterprises with ten or more staff pay for internet advertising, and nearly two-thirds use social media. Size and sector make a large difference to both.

  1. 1 Contextual advertising 76.83%
  2. 2 Other targeting methods 45.30%
  3. 3 Geo-targeting 44.29%
  4. 4 Behavioural targeting 41.57%
Targeting methods used by EU enterprises that paid for internet advertising in 2024, on Eurostat's survey. An enterprise can use more than one method. (Eurostat (internet advertising of businesses), Apr 2025)

Eurostat surveys enterprises with 10 or more employees and self-employed persons, so the smallest firms are left out. The advertising question was optional in 2024 and not every member state has data. The targeting shares are of enterprises that pay for internet advertising; the size-class shares are of all enterprises in each class. Social media use is any use, not paid advertising.

How is online advertising regulated and policed?

Mostly after the fact, by regulators that publish their own enforcement counts. The figures below come from the UK's advertising regulator, the European Commission's list of services designated under the Digital Services Act and the US Federal Trade Commission, and each counts something different.

  1. 1 YouTube 416.6m
  2. 2 Google Search 364m
  3. 3 Facebook 259m
  4. 4 Instagram 259m
  5. 5 ChatGPT 159.1m
  6. 6 TikTok 135.9m
  7. 7 Pinterest 124m
  8. 8 X 115.1m
  9. 9 Snapchat 102m
  10. 10 Reddit 57.2m
  11. 11 LinkedIn (logged-in) 45.2m
Average monthly active users in the EU, in millions, as reported by each provider on the European Commission's list of designated services, updated 6 November 2026. Providers count in different ways; LinkedIn reports logged-in users. (European Commission (DSA designated services), Nov 2026)
  • The UK Advertising Standards Authority resolved over 40,000 complaints from the public about 25,397 ads in 2025. (ASA (Annual Report 2025), Apr 2026)
  • 22,383 ads were amended or removed in 2025 as a result of the ASA's work. (ASA (Annual Report 2025), Apr 2026)
  • The ASA's Active Ad Monitoring system scanned nearly 60 million online ads in 2025. (ASA (Annual Report 2025), Apr 2026)
  • By the end of 2025 the ASA spent 45% of its regulatory resource on proactive work and 38% on reactive complaints casework, against 5% and 67% in 2012. (ASA (Annual Report 2025), Apr 2026)
  • About 57% of the UK influencer ads the ASA reviewed complied with the disclosure rules, up from the 35% it recorded in 2021. (ASA (Annual Report 2025), Apr 2026)
  • A further 9% of the influencer content used unclear labels and 34% had no disclosure at all, in an ASA review of 50,000 pieces of content from 509 UK-based accounts. (ASA (Annual Report 2025), Apr 2026)
  • In January to June 2026 the ASA's Active Ad Monitoring system scanned 40 million ads. (ASA (Mid-year report 2026), 2026)
  • 2,301 ads were amended or withdrawn in January to June 2026, half of them paid ads, on the ASA's mid-year report. (ASA (Mid-year report 2026), 2026)
  • The ASA issued 54 Scam Ad Alerts in January to June 2026, against 169 in the whole of 2025. (ASA (Mid-year report 2026), 2026)

The ASA covers UK advertising in all media, offline as well as online, and its counts are the regulator's own operating figures. Its 2021 influencer study covered Instagram only, so the rise in compliance is not like for like. The half-year and full-year counts of ads amended or withdrawn come from different reports and are not presented as a trend.

How many EU users do the largest online services report under the Digital Services Act?

User numbers are as reported by each provider, without prejudice to the Commission's assessment of the methodology, and providers count in different ways and at different dates. The fines are given as the Commission's page prints them: date, company and amount.

How much do Americans lose to scams that start on social media?

  • Reported losses to scams that started on social media were $2.1 billion in 2025, on reports made to the US Federal Trade Commission. (FTC (Data Spotlight, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • The same FTC series shows reported losses of $261 million in 2020, $789 million in 2021, $1.2 billion in 2022, $1.5 billion in 2023 and $1.9 billion in 2024. (FTC (Data Spotlight, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • Nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam said it started on social media, and more than 40% of those who lost money on social media said it started when they ordered something. (FTC (Data Spotlight, April 2026), Apr 2026)
  • By contact method, websites or apps accounted for 31% of reported US scam losses in 2025, social media 28%, phone calls 11%, email 10% and texts 7%. (FTC (Data Spotlight, April 2026), Apr 2026)

These are losses that people reported to the FTC, so they do not capture every loss.

Glossary

Internet advertising revenue
The IAB/PwC measure: revenue that companies selling internet advertising in the US report for the year.
Ad spend and ad revenue
Two sides of the same money. Spend is what advertisers pay; revenue is what sellers of advertising receive. Forecasters and trade bodies each define their own version.
Programmatic
Advertising bought and sold through automated systems, often by auction, instead of by direct order.
Commerce media and retail media
Advertising sold on or with the data of retailers and other commerce sites. Each producer defines it in its own way.
CTV
Connected TV: advertising shown on television sets connected to the internet.
DOOH
Digital out-of-home: advertising on digital screens in public places.
CPM
Cost per thousand impressions.
MFA
Made-for-advertising: websites built mainly to carry adverts.
TrueAdSpend Index
The ANA's measure of the share of programmatic investment that delivers fraud-free, measurable, viewable and MFA-free impressions.
PMP
Private marketplace: an invitation-only programmatic auction, as opposed to the open marketplace.
Net balance
In the IPA Bellwether, the share of panel companies raising a budget minus the share cutting it.
Form 10-K
The annual report a US-listed company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
ARPU
Average revenue per user, as each company defines it.
Agentic AI
AI systems that carry out tasks such as buying ads or running campaigns with limited human direction.
Generative engine optimisation
Adapting content so that AI-generated answers draw on it.
Third-party cookie
A small file set by a site other than the one being visited, long used to track people across sites for advertising.
DSA
The EU Digital Services Act, under which the European Commission designates and supervises very large online platforms and search engines.
IAB, ANA and ASA
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (with separate national bodies), the US Association of National Advertisers and the UK Advertising Standards Authority.
AA/WARC
The UK Advertising Association and WARC, which publish the Expenditure Report on UK advertising across all media.
ICO, CNIL and CMA
The UK Information Commissioner's Office, France's data protection authority and the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from the bodies and companies that produce each measure: IAB/PwC, IAB Europe, IAB UK, the Advertising Association and WARC, IAB Australia and IAB Canada for advertising revenue and spend; dentsu, WPP Media and WARC for global forecasts; annual filings and results from Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Pinterest, Snap and Reddit; The CMO Survey, the IPA Bellwether, Salesforce, Content Marketing Institute and Litmus surveys; Nielsen, the ANA and OAAA; Eurostat, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and Pew Research Center; and regulators including the ASA, ICO, CNIL, CMA, European Commission and FTC. Each figure links to the document that published it, with the date, and source labels name the report. The sources measure different things and are kept apart: forecasts from different producers are never merged, company revenues are never added together or turned into market shares, and UK digital and all-media totals are stated separately. Where a producer restated a figure, the restated value is used. Forecasts and projections are labelled with who made them and when. Figures we could not find on the producer's own page, and sums the producers did not print, are left out. The page is reviewed monthly.