WARC Upgrades Ad Forecast

A “social media windfall” has led WARC to upgrade its global advertising forecast for 2025, with revenues on track to rise by 7.4 percent to $1.17 trillion.

This marks WARC’s first forecast upgrade in more than a year. For 2026, WARC is projecting an 8.1 percent increase to $1.27 trillion, with a 7.1 percent forecast in 2027 to reach $1.36 trillion.

James McDonald, director of data, intelligence and forecasting at WARC, and author of the report, said: “Global ad spend is growing rapidly, with digital-first platforms capturing almost all the new money. Despite economic headwinds, including disruption to global trade and reduced purchasing power among consumers, brands are doubling down on Meta, Alphabet and Amazon, while emerging players like TikTok are growing fast but from smaller bases. The global market is set to nearly double in value since the pandemic, underscoring the resilience of advertising in a tougher economic climate.”

Nine in ten dollars entering the ad market are going toward online-only platforms, WARC said, with social media now the single largest ad medium globally, with a share of almost 41 percent of new ad dollars. Social media is expected to see a gain of almost 15 percent this year to spend of $306.4 billion, a share of more than 26 percent.

Alphabet, Amazon and Meta draw more than 55 percent of all ad spend outside of China, with that projected to reach 60 percent by 2030.