Advertising Statistics 2026: Ad Spend, Channels, and Consumer Data

Advertising is having a big year. Global ad spend is heading for roughly $1.3 trillion in 2026, and almost all of the growth is happening online: in search, social feeds, streaming TV, and retail media networks.

These advertising statistics will help you check your budget against where the market is actually going. Every number below comes from a primary source (WARC, WPP Media, IAB/PwC, Nielsen, company earnings, and large surveys), and each one is labeled with the year it describes.

Two things to keep in mind as you read. First, many 2026 figures are forecasts, and forecasters revise them during the year. Second, sources define channels differently, so compare numbers within the same source, not across sources.

Key advertising statistics for 2026

• Global ad spend is forecast to grow 11.9% to $1.34 trillion in 2026 (WARC, 2026).
• US internet advertising revenue hit a record $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9% (IAB/PwC, 2026).
• In the US, social media ($117.7 billion) overtook search ($114.2 billion) as the largest digital ad format in 2025 (IAB/PwC, 2026).
• Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta are expected to take 59.7% of global ad spend outside China in 2026 (WARC, 2026).
• Streaming took 49.6% of US TV viewing in August 2026 (Nielsen, 2026).
• An estimated 1.1 billion people used an ad blocker in Q4 2025, about 30% of the internet population (eyeo, 2026).
• 54% of Americans say personalized ads creep them out (YouGov, 2025).

Global ad spend: totals and forecasts

The two big global forecasters, WARC and WPP Media, both put the 2026 ad market at around $1.3 trillion. They measure slightly differently (WPP Media excludes US political advertising), so the totals and growth rates don’t match exactly.

1. Global ad spend will reach $1.34 trillion in 2026 (WARC, 2026)

WARC’s October 2026 outlook expects global advertising to grow 11.9% this year to $1.34 trillion (WARC, 2026). That follows 10.0% growth in both 2024 and 2025 (WARC, 2026).

2. Growth slows but keeps going through 2028 (WARC, 2026)

WARC forecasts $1.46 trillion in 2027 (up 8.4%) and $1.57 trillion in 2028 (up 7.9%). The 2028 figure would make the market 2.3 times its 2019 size (WARC, 2026).

3. WPP Media raised its 2026 forecast to 8.9% growth (WPP Media, 2026)

In June 2026, WPP Media lifted its 2026 forecast to 8.9% growth, reaching $1.3 trillion (excluding US political ads), up from the 7.1% it predicted in December 2025. It also says ad revenue has reached its highest share of global GDP since its records began in 1999 (WPP Media, 2026).

4. The market was worth $1.14 trillion in 2025 (WPP Media, 2025)

WPP Media put 2025 global ad revenue at $1.14 trillion, up 8.8% (WPP Media, 2025).

5. Three companies control the majority of ad revenue (WPP Media and WARC, 2026)

Outside China, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon control 57.6% of the ad market, and no traditional media owner makes the global top ten (WPP Media, 2026). WARC’s estimate is similar: 59.7% ($659.6 billion) in 2026, rising to 61.5% by 2028 (WARC, 2026).

6. Commerce ads have passed TV (WPP Media, 2025)

Commerce (retail media) advertising reached $178.2 billion in 2025, surpassing total TV ad revenue worldwide for the first time (WPP Media, 2025). WARC expects retail media to reach $202.1 billion in 2026, up 14.3% (WARC, 2026).

Global ad spend by channel, 2026 forecast (WARC)

Source: WARC, 2026.

Online advertising statistics (US)

The IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report is the standard yardstick for online ad spend in the US. The full-year 2025 edition came out in April 2026.

7. US internet ad revenue reached $294.6 billion in 2025 (IAB/PwC, 2026)

That’s a record, and a 13.9% increase on 2024 (IAB/PwC, 2026).

US internet ad revenue by format, 2025 (IAB/PwC)

Formats overlap (for example, social video counts in both social and video), so the shares add up to more than 100%.

Source: IAB/PwC, 2026.

8. Social added about $29 billion in a single year (IAB/PwC, 2026)

US social ad revenue grew 32.6% in 2025, adding roughly $29 billion and making social the largest digital format, at 40.0% of the total (IAB/PwC, 2026).

9. Creator advertising is becoming its own channel (IAB, 2026)

Brands spent $37 billion on creator advertising in 2025, and IAB projects $44 billion in 2026 (IAB/PwC, 2026). For more on this market, see our creator economy statistics.

10. Mobile now accounts for about 60% of web traffic (StatCounter, 2026)

Mobile devices made up 59.9% of worldwide web page views in October 2026, against 38.51% for desktop and 1.59% for tablets (StatCounter, 2026).

Search advertising statistics

Search is still a huge business, but it now grows more slowly than social.

11. US search ad revenue was $114.2 billion in 2025 (IAB/PwC, 2026)

Search grew 11% in 2025, down from 15.9% growth in 2024, and made up 38.8% of US digital ad revenue (IAB/PwC, 2026).

12. Global search spend will reach $295.7 billion in 2026 (WARC, 2026)

WARC expects search advertising worldwide to grow 14.2% in 2026 (WARC, 2026).

13. Google Search made $63.1 billion in one quarter (Alphabet, 2026)

Google Search & other revenue rose 17% to $63.1 billion in Q4 2025, up from $54.0 billion a year earlier (Alphabet, 2026).

14. Ads in AI answers could pass $100 billion by 2030 (WPP Media, 2026)

WPP Media projects generative search advertising (ads in AI-powered answers) to grow from $5.1 billion in 2026 to more than $100 billion by 2030 (WPP Media, 2026).

Social media advertising statistics

15. Social is the fastest-growing major channel worldwide (WARC, 2026)

Global social ad spend is forecast to grow 21.3% to $394.6 billion in 2026 (WARC, 2026), and WARC expects it to pass $500 billion in 2028 (WARC, 2026).

16. Meta earned $196.2 billion from ads in 2025 (Meta, 2026)

Meta’s advertising revenue grew 22% to $196.2 billion in 2025, from $160.6 billion in 2024 (Meta, 2026).

17. Meta shows more ads, and charges more for them (Meta, 2026)

In 2025, ad impressions across Meta’s apps rose 12% and the average price per ad rose 9%. Its apps reached 3.58 billion daily active people in December 2025 (Meta, 2026).

Video and CTV advertising statistics

18. US digital video ad spend will pass $80 billion in 2026 (IAB, 2026)

IAB expects digital video to keep outpacing the broader ad market (IAB, 2026).

19. Social video is growing faster than CTV (IAB, 2026)

For 2026, IAB projects US ad spend growth of 13% for social video, 11% for CTV, and 10% for online video (IAB, 2026).

20. Streaming is about half of all US TV viewing (Nielsen, 2026)

Streaming took 49.6% of US TV time in August 2026, and YouTube alone took a record 15.8% (Nielsen, 2026).

21. YouTube ads made $11.4 billion in one quarter (Alphabet, 2026)

YouTube ad revenue grew 9% to $11.4 billion in Q4 2025 (Alphabet, 2026).

22. Live content commands a premium (IAB, 2026)

93% of video ad buyers say live content is worth more than other video content (IAB, 2026).

23. AI is moving into video ad production (IAB, 2026)

Nearly two-thirds of buyers now use generative AI for digital video creative, up from half in 2025. IAB expects one-third of video ad assets to use generative AI in 2026, rising to 43% by 2027 (IAB, 2026).

Programmatic advertising statistics

24. US programmatic revenue hit $162.4 billion in 2025 (IAB/PwC, 2026)

Programmatic grew 20.5%, adding $27.6 billion in new spend (IAB/PwC, 2026). Programmatic is a way of buying, not a format, so it overlaps with display, video, and CTV.

25. Buyers trust the open exchange least (IAB, 2026)

When buying CTV, 67% of buyers have only “somewhat to no confidence” in inventory quality on the open exchange, compared with 55% for private marketplaces and 43% for direct, programmatic-guaranteed, or self-serve deals (IAB, 2026).

26. Agentic AI is coming to programmatic (IAB, 2026)

96% of buyers agree agentic AI has a role in programmatic, but 40% want a human in the loop (IAB, 2026).

Ad blocking statistics

eyeo (the company behind Adblock Plus) publishes the most detailed count of ad-blocking users.

27. 1.1 billion people block ads (eyeo, 2026)

An estimated 1.1 billion people used ad blockers in Q4 2025, up 13% since eyeo’s 2023 report. That’s about 30% of the internet population (eyeo, 2026).

28. Mobile ad blocking is now bigger than desktop (eyeo, 2026)

There were an estimated 629 million mobile ad-blocking users in Q4 2025, up 27% since 2023, against 448 million on desktop, down 4% (eyeo, 2026).

29. A third of US internet users block ads (eyeo, 2026)

The US ad-blocking rate is 33%, compared with 27% in the UK, 31% in Germany, and 15% in Japan (eyeo, 2026).

30. Forcing ads on blockers backfires (eyeo, 2026)

When banner ads are forced on ad-block users, they spend 10% to 20% less time on the page and rate the site worse (eyeo, 2026).

Consumer attitudes to ads and targeted ads

31. Most Americans are uncomfortable with behavioral targeting (YouGov, 2025)

56% of Americans are uncomfortable with companies using their online behavior to personalize ads. That rises to 62% among Gen X and Baby Boomers (YouGov, 2025).

32. More than half find personalized ads creepy (YouGov, 2025)

54% of Americans agree that “personalized advertisements creep me out” (YouGov, 2025).

33. Browsing-history ads feel the most invasive (YouGov, 2025)

59% of Americans name ads based on browsing history as the most invasive type of personalized ad (YouGov, 2025).

34. Control makes people more comfortable (YouGov, 2025)

“Options to opt out” (52%) and “minimal data collection” (35%) are the top things that would make Americans more comfortable with personalized ads (YouGov, 2025).

35. Only 1 in 4 find personalized ads helpful (YouGov, 2025)

About 1 in 4 Americans agree personalized ads help them discover products they might want to buy, and 44% have an ad blocker on their browser or phone (YouGov, 2025).

36. Privacy concern is widespread (eyeo, 2026)

In an eyeo–Harris Poll study, 81% of internet users were concerned about devices recording their browsing history for targeted advertising (eyeo, 2026). For the other side of the story, see our personalization statistics.

B2B vs B2C advertising statistics

B2B and B2C marketers don’t rate channels the same way. HubSpot’s State of Marketing 2026 report (1,500+ marketers) asked which channels deliver the best ROI.

Top channels by ROI, B2B vs B2C (HubSpot, 2026)

Source: HubSpot, 2026. Percentages are the share of marketers ranking each channel in their top three.

37. Paid social is the top ROI channel for B2C (HubSpot, 2026)

28.5% of B2C marketers put paid social in their top three for ROI, more than any other channel. For B2B, paid social ranks third at 23.3% (HubSpot, 2026).

38. More B2B marketers plan to invest in paid media (CMI, 2025 and 2026)

25% of B2B marketers planned to increase paid media investment in 2026 (CMI, 2025). For 2027, that rose to 30%, up 5 points (CMI, 2026).

39. LinkedIn leads for B2B thought leadership (CMI, 2025)

76% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is the most effective channel for thought leadership, well ahead of email newsletters (54%) and speaking events or webinars (52%) (CMI, 2025). Our LinkedIn statistics go deeper.

40. Few B2B teams personalize their ads (CMI, 2025)

Only 31% of B2B marketers personalize digital advertising, compared with 85% who personalize email, and just 16% use AI tools for ad performance analysis and ad spend (CMI, 2025).

Frequently asked questions

How much is spent on advertising worldwide?

WARC forecasts global ad spend of $1.34 trillion in 2026, up 11.9%. WPP Media’s estimate is about $1.3 trillion, up 8.9%, excluding US political ads.

What percentage of advertising is digital?

There’s no single agreed global figure, because forecasters split channels differently. But the biggest channels are all digital: in WARC’s 2026 forecast, social ($394.6 billion), search ($295.7 billion), and retail media ($202.1 billion) are the three largest. In the US, internet ad revenue reached $294.6 billion in 2025 (IAB/PwC).

What is the biggest advertising channel?

Worldwide, social media is the largest single channel in 2026, at a forecast $394.6 billion (WARC). In the US, social ($117.7 billion) overtook search ($114.2 billion) in 2025 (IAB/PwC).

Which companies earn the most from advertising?

Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon. Together they take an estimated 57.6% to 59.7% of global ad spend outside China (WPP Media and WARC, 2026). Meta alone earned $196.2 billion from ads in 2025.

How many people use ad blockers?

About 1.1 billion people worldwide in Q4 2025, roughly 30% of internet users. In the US, the ad-blocking rate is 33% (eyeo, 2026).

Do people like targeted ads?

Mostly not. 54% of Americans say personalized ads creep them out, and 56% are uncomfortable with behavior-based targeting. Opt-out options and collecting less data are what would make them more comfortable (YouGov, 2025).

Which advertising channel has the best ROI?

It depends on who you sell to. B2C marketers rank paid social first. B2B marketers rank website, blog, and SEO first, with email and paid social close behind (HubSpot, 2026).

Conclusion

The ad market is bigger than ever, but the money is concentrating. Social, search, and retail media are taking most of the growth, three platforms take most of the revenue, and streaming is turning TV into another digital channel.

At the same time, about a third of internet users block ads and most people dislike being tracked. The brands that do well will spend where attention is moving and give people more control over their data. If you’re automating campaigns across those channels, our guide to the best marketing automation software is a good next stop.