蘑菇AV

Tariffs drive ad pullbacks: Temu and Shein reduce US ad spending ahead of policy shift, signaling fallout across ecommerce and social platforms.

The decline in main media spend reflects pressure to deliver results immediately鈥攂ut as Dan Gee of Media Futures Market noted, balance is key. Brands that neglect long-term brand building in favor of performance-only tactics may struggle to maintain relevance. Even as overall budgets dip, AI and personalization are emerging as bright spots.

Retailers are feeling the ripple effects of new tariffs as consumers brace for higher prices. While some shoppers accept the trade-off, many are already adjusting their habits鈥攆rom cutting back on fast food to seeking out deals. To stay competitive, brands must focus on value, transparency, and smart messaging. Here are five key stats on how tariffs are shaking things up.

CTV is Walmart Connect鈥檚 fastest-growing ad channel. Dallaire called CTV the most dynamic part of Walmart鈥檚 off-site media business, with Vizio inventory now giving it exclusive placements that are in high demand. Tens of millions of SmartCast-enabled TVs are already in homes鈥攎ost sold through Walmart.

Temu pulls its Google Shopping ads: The escalating US-China trade war puts the company鈥檚 business model at risk and threatens ad giants like Meta and Google.

The rebrand is a small step in Apple鈥檚 overall ad strategy to combat slower ad growth, but past efforts to expand its ad business haven鈥檛 been wildly successful. Apple鈥檚 services revenues missed the mark in Q4 2024, falling below investor expectations鈥攕uggesting that its ad initiatives might not be performing as well as hoped.

This is the first installment of our quarterly 鈥淎d Spending Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

Amazon鈥檚 play: Amazon鈥檚 ecommerce channel ad revenues, which are included within retail media spend, will approach $30 billion this year, accounting for 76.2% of all ecommerce channel ad spending in the US, according to our forecast.

Retailers looking to capitalize on retail media鈥檚 growth opportunities need to understand the market developments, formats, and challenges shaping ad spending in Latin America.

BeReal hired Ben Moore as its US managing director to support ad growth. Moore previously led global media buying partnerships for TikTok. The app claims to have 40 million monthly users worldwide, with 5 million located in the US. What ads will be like: BeReal has two ad formats鈥攊n-feed ads that look like organic content, and homepage takeover ads when users open the app.

Much of this ad spend comes from Chinese ecommerce brands marketing directly to US consumers, especially in categories like apparel, home goods, and electronics. Higher import costs may reduce these brands' US ambitions鈥攁nd their reliance on Meta鈥檚 performance-driven ad tools. Our take: Legal risks and shifting economics could weaken Meta鈥檚 influence.

If ad dollars shrink, Meta and others may need to ditch risky side projects and focus on scalable, affordable services to survive the slowdown

From 2024 to 2026, FMN ad spend will grow at a breakneck 106.3% compound annual growth rate, per our forecast. While that will account for only 0.4% of US digital ad spending in 2026, this growth reflects FIs鈥� eagerness to monetize their first-party data. Click here to view our full forecast for US FMN ad spending. Ad revenues are looking increasingly attractive for FIs:.

Our analysts are currently preparing an updated US Retail & Ecommerce forecast, slated for release in May, with revised global retail forecasts coming by late June. Our take: The tariff escalation is more than a headline鈥攊t鈥檚 a structural shock that could reshape global consumer demand and ad spending for the remainder of 2025 and for years to come.

颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 ecommerce disruptors will get disrupted. Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop face a reckoning following breakneck worldwide expansion. The crop of mobile-first ecommerce players with roots in China have taken off with consumers around the world.

Trump鈥檚 tariffs fuel ad industry pullback: Marketers are cutting budgets and ad growth projections fall sharply as inflation and trade uncertainty rise.

Methodology: Estimates are based on the analysis of various elements related to the ad spending market, including macro-level economic conditions, historical trends of the advertising market, historical trends of each medium in relation to other media, reported revenues of major ad publishers, estimates from other research firms, data from benchmark sources, consumer media consumption trends, consumer device

Without de minimis, those businesses are now on more equal footing with their domestic counterparts, although the agile supply chains of the largest Chinese ecommerce players will continue to offer an advantage. The crackdown will also affect Amazon, which uses the exemption to offer ultra-low prices on its Amazon Haul marketplace.