蘑菇AV

Our view: Uncertainty around TikTok and Meta are spurring further diversification in the ad market. While Meta and Google will remain the largest ad platforms鈥攁s well as the biggest financial beneficiaries of a TikTok ban鈥攁dvertisers are looking for alternative places to spend their dollars. This was originally featured in the 蘑菇AV Daily newsletter.

Two-thirds of teens are more likely to buy something they saw on TikTok than on a big-budget TV campaign. Key stat: Consumers aren鈥檛 giving feedback the way they used to. Less than a third (32%) of consumers sent feedback directly to a company after a bad experience, down 7.7 points since 2021, according to a 2025 Consumer Trends report from XM Institute and Qualtrics.

(Vine is often considered the precursor to TikTok, thanks to its 6-second video clips.). While X remains a text-first platform, it has made improvements to its video offerings, including the launch of a TikTok-like vertical video feed.

TikTok aims to generate $20 billion in sales via TikTok Shop, and is expected to launch its own US ecommerce store soon. The platform is also leveraging new search features to become a hub for retail ecommerce. TikTok is also pushing new AI ad tools, and getting involved in a host of new media ventures. Here鈥檚 what the platform has been up to over the past month.

Its relaunched Pink brand is gaining traction with younger consumers after going viral on TikTok and hosting back-to-school events on college campuses. After trimming its assortment to focus on underwear and beauty products, Victoria鈥檚 Secret is getting back into apparel categories like activewear, which offer the brand additional opportunities to boost engagement and purchase frequency.

Social media dominance: Social media platforms remain a primary destination for digital ad spending, as visually rich platforms like Meta, TikTok, and YouTube play a vital role in product discovery. According to 蘑菇AV鈥檚 analyst report, 5 of the 10 most active social media markets are in Latin America, with users spending 3-plus hours per day on social platforms.

Amazon turns to Meta, Snap partnerships to keep TikTok at bay: As the retailer moves in on social commerce, TikTok is beefing up its supply chain.

With 13.4% YoY user growth in 2023, Snapchat will briefly overtake TikTok (12.7%) as the fastest-growing social media platform worldwide, according to our forecast. TikTok will regain the title come 2024.

TikTok鈥檚 downgrade to about $10 billion for 2022 puts revenue estimates more in line with our own, which have TikTok at $9.89 billion in ad revenues this year, up from $3.88 billion in 2021.

Dollar Tree has recently formed partnerships with creators like Rebecca Shobat (@dollartreedinners), who built a following of over 3 million on TikTok following by sharing unpaid content featuring affordable recipes created with ingredients from the retailer.

Gen Zers follow/engage with health influencers mostly on Instagram (58%) and TikTok (54%). Millennials are the most likely generation (56%) to connect with health influencers on YouTube. Gen Xers (72%) and boomers (70%) mostly use Facebook to follow/engage with health influencers. Why it matters: Consumers aren鈥檛 just following health influencers for entertainment purposes.

Gen Zers prefer TikTok and Instagram, while millennials prefer Facebook and YouTube. Over two-thirds of millennials (68.2%) in our survey accessed Facebook for health-related information, while over half of Gen Zers (51.7%) accessed TikTok. Across generations, consumers are researching medical conditions and symptoms online.

In fact, Meta and TikTok are two of the three leading platforms for video advertising. The third is YouTube, which also has social media elements. All three will see their video ad revenues grow rapidly between 2024 and 2026. Meta alone will attract nearly $50 billion in social media video revenues by 2026, up $11.68 billion in just two years.

Gen Z鈥檚 interest lies mainly in social video on apps like TikTok and Instagram Reels鈥攖he 18-to-24 age bracket has a penetration rate of 97.8% of internet users. Digital video penetration of all age groups combined is 84.9%. Only seniors have a usage rate under 75%. As with TV, content providers deliver programming that appeals to every age group.

Advertisers may remain suspicious over X鈥檚 potential to guarantee campaign success, as the platform lags far behind Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube for product discovery, per Sprout Social. These suspicions will likely be exacerbated by heightened consumer discourse over Musk鈥檚 controversial political opinions.

TikTok is already choosing to swap human moderators for automated systems and, if more platform owners cut safety teams to tackle AI development expenses, AI-generated misinformation could become a constant risk for users.

But TikTok will lose user attention for the first time this year鈥攁lbeit just 1 minute. These platform-level losses explain why social network time overall looks shaky. Click here to view the forecasts for US time spent with social networks by platform. TikTok still reigns in social time spent by users (51 minutes), and Facebook still leads among the total population (20 minutes).

Target also pulled a Black History Month product after a TikTok user exposed misidentified historical figures. Some brands are standing firm on diversity marketing. Despite broader corporate pullbacks, the NFL, Nike, Pinterest, and Costco have maintained their commitments.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the significance of a democratic country like Brazil banning X, how it will impact the platform in terms of users and ad dollars, and how advertisers in America are viewing the situation. Tune in to the discussion with host Marcus Johnson, vice president and analyst Jasmine Enberg and analyst Matteo Ceurvels.

Marketers should leverage Instagram and TikTok (Gen Z鈥檚 top social platforms), as well as YouTube, to identify creators that appeal best to younger audiences, engender authenticity, and align with the social values of the media buying brand. Nice-to-have device ownership is not universal.

Instagram and YouTube are poised to benefit most from a TikTok decline, leaving X with limited opportunities to take advantage. To help you start 2025 off on the right foot, articles like this one鈥攄elivering the latest news and insights鈥攁re completely free through January 31, 2025.

The report argues that while brands chase TikTok terminology and fleeting social media trends, they neglect a holistic approach to reaching Gen Z. 鈥淵ou can be inspired by your personal experience or what you see out in the world, but you have to be extremely curious,鈥� said Baker.

That regulatory streak is likely to continue under Vestager鈥檚 successor, Teresa Ribera, who will oversee the conclusion of investigations into alleged anticompetitive practices and data privacy violations from Meta, Google, TikTok, and others. Companies found to be in violation of the DMA could face penalties of up to 10% of their global annual turnover.