蘑菇AV

Gaming offers a long runway of opportunity for advertisers. In 2025, US digital gamers will spend nearly as much time playing as social network users spend on social platforms each day (1 hour, 48 minutes versus 1 hour, 51 minutes, respectively). But at $8.76 billion, US gaming ad revenues will account for just a fraction of the $102.66 billion that social networks garner in ad spending.

The news: The 2025 NBA Finals drew just 10.2 million viewers on average, among the weakest results in two decades—yet Game 7 peaked at 19.3 million, the highest since 2019. Traditional ratings miss the full picture, though: social views on NBA Finals content soared 215% year over year to 5 billion. Our take: Gen Z sports fans are watching differently—via highlights, short clips, and mobile-first formats on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. TV still matters, but leagues like the NBA must master new distribution models. With streaming growth and a massive $76B media deal in place, the future is already digital.

The news: US adults are increasingly dependent on digital platforms for news, with social media and video overtaking traditional news outlets for the first time. 54% of US adults get their news from social media, per the Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report, compared with 50% from TV news and 48% from news websites and apps. Our take: Linear platforms could offer personalized news digests and mobile- and social- friendly content to reengage younger users, while advertisers should diversify their campaigns across social media platforms to follow fragmented user engagement.

Retail media ad spending in France, Germany, and the UK continues to rise, outpacing all other ad formats. The space is developing rapidly despite fragmentation and a lack of standards.

The news: Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that social media platforms must be held accountable for illegal user-generated content (UGC), marking a major shift in digital regulation, per Reuters. Six of 11 justices backed fines for non-removal, putting the pressure on platforms to police their content. The decision to place accountability on platform owners could undermine the business and advertising strategies of Meta, YouTube, X, and TikTok. Key takeaway: When governments crack down on platforms, ad environments change fast. If Brazil’s ruling becomes the norm, social platforms may shift from open forums to tightly controlled spaces—risking user engagement, discoverability, algorithmic reach, and ad effectiveness.

The trend: Global visits to the top 100 web domains fell nearly 7% from March 2022 to March 2025, per Semrush, with Google’s own traffic down 6.4%, according to Similarweb as cited by DataReportal. Our take: Search is no longer a neutral traffic driver. Marketers need to plan for a world where clicks don’t come easy and genAI responses, not blue links, dictate traffic and visibility. GEO strategies must ensure brands are surfaced in genAI outputs. Marketers should focus on first-party data, brand-owned channels, and social, especially since platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube are increasingly becoming primary search paths for younger users.

Twenty-five percent of respondents don’t use Instagram, while 28% aren’t using YouTube and 38% aren’t using TikTok. Behind the trend: Small businesses are struggling with social media adoption because of a lack of resources, expertise, and knowledge of the right tactics. 32% lack resources like time, budgets, and skills necessary for marketing a business successfully. Expertise is lacking.

Adobe, Amazon, YouTube, and more are fueling the next wave of video ads with AI tools that help small businesses automate and personalize ad creation at scale. TikTok’s AI Alive turns static photos into animated Stories, aiming to retain creators with unique, in-app tools amid political pressure and rising competition.

Gen Z defines social winners in Asia-Pacific: Snapchat slows in India while TikTok expands in Indonesia and Singapore.

Video consumption among this group peaks during afternoon and evening hours, a crucial window for advertisers hoping to catch them mid-scroll. Their connection to creators suggests that branded campaigns built on influencer partnerships—especially those using short-form video—stand a better chance at cutting through.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how much the merger with xAI can move the needle for X, if the social platform can recoup the kinds of ad dollars it was making before Elon Musk bought them, and where X users have migrated to (if anywhere). Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, and Analysts Marisa Jones and Emmy Liederman. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

What it means for advertisers:. In markets like Japan, Facebook's reduced reach may justify reallocating budget to other Meta properties or rival platforms entirely. Regions still showing stable or growing usage may offer more efficient ROI for social ad campaigns.

Retailer-owned streaming services like Amazon Prime and Walmart’s Vizio, along with full social platform integrations like Amazon’s shoppable TikTok ads, are the exception rather than the rule.

LinkedIn is the top platform that has seen an increase in usage among B2B marketers globally, but others—like YouTube, TikTok, and even Reddit—are also gaining. To reach B2B decision-makers, 64% plan to advertise on consumer channels. Video is appealing to today’s buyers. B2B buyers prefer quick, digestible content.

TikTok brings DMs directly to livestreams: The update is part of TikTok’s broader livestream push, designed to keep brands and creators around.

YouTube introduces new offerings for ads, podcasts: The platform aims to highlight its ability to reach audiences with unmatched versatile content options.

Shoppable ads will be a focus for brands in 2025 as they test new formats offered by retail media networks and their media partners.

TikTok debuts AI Alive, an image-to-video generation tool: The feature is part of TikTok’s push to maintain dominance in a competitive short-form market.

It also highlights Shorts’ presence beyond mobile, directly challenging TikTok in a CTV platform it isn’t competing in. Changing the game for a captive audience: Unlike TikTok, YouTube is building a strong TV presence, even at the cost of frustrating loyal viewers in the process.

Partnership ads for Display & Video 360. Creator lead-ins that start videos with personalized creator messages through Takeovers. An Insights Finder report with information to locate relevant creators and their fans. YouTube’s creator push: YouTube is still trying to prove itself as the best place for marketers to work with creators.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss Meta’s capacity to weather the tariff climate, how Meta plans to redefine advertising, and what happens if it is forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg, and Senior Analyst Minda Smiley. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Amazon and AppLovin make TikTok bids as sales deadline approaches: While a deal has yet to be inked, Trump and TikTok seem to be confident in the app’s future.

TikTok makes a bid to encourage creators, agencies to livestream: The push is part of the platform’s strategic effort to avoid a US ban.

The news: Snap announced its sixth-generation AR smart glasses at the 2025 Augmented World Expo (AWE). The wearables will be available to the public for the first time since 2016, potentially unlocking a new revenue stream beyond ads. The lightweight consumer smart glasses, called Specs, will launch in 2026 and include an “ultra-powerful wearable computer.” Our take: Snap’s next-gen smart glasses could diversify its revenue streams and show off its AR prowess. But unless the price tag is affordable and competitive, users may continue to just use Snapchat’s AR filters on their phones.