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Gaming in Canada has developed into an important advertising opportunity as audiences grow and in-game ads gain traction with mobile users.

The news: Despite its massive reach, gaming still accounts for less than 5% of worldwide media investment, per Dentsu鈥檚 2025 Gaming Trends report鈥攊ndicating a disparity between where audiences spend their time and where advertisers invest. Our take: Concerns about brand safety with in-game advertising linger, but brands that are willing to take the risk stand to gain through an approach that considers that simply investing in the format isn鈥檛 enough to drive results.

Amid dizzying policy unpredictability and a grab bag of unpleasant economic possibilities, precise ad spend forecasting is challenging. A scenarios-based approach can help clarify potential outcomes.

Gaming content (moderate disruption). Key market dynamics. YouTube is an increasingly influential鈥攂ut ultimately adjacent鈥攄igital gaming channel. It isn鈥檛 necessarily disrupting gaming advertising, but brands setting ads against gaming-related content are likely attracted to YouTube thanks to its growing audiences. YouTube trails Twitch for livestreaming content.

That includes once-overlooked areas of the mobile ad market, such as the gaming ecosystem. AppLovin will not be the only company to benefit from the dissolution of mobile ad buying silos. If AppLovin succeeds in bringing ecommerce advertisers into gaming and expanding into web ads, they鈥檒l probably take a look at other advertising categories.

This is the first installment of our biannual 鈥淯K Ad Spending Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

Ad spend is tightening due to economic uncertainty, including tariff anxieties. Independent proof of ad performance and potential returns could be a tipping point for broader brand adoption. What鈥檚 next?

By aggregating millions of data signals from its ad mediation and gaming platforms, AppLovin has built a powerful ML framework that strengthens targeting and campaign optimization. Its closed-loop attribution system lets advertisers track conversions in real time, measure impact more effectively, and refine their strategies for better ad spend efficiency. What challenges does AppLovin face?

AppLovin beat Q1 expectations and exited gaming: The company is now all-in on adtech, led by AXON鈥檚 rapid growth.

More than just a cloud leader: Microsoft ad revenues surged 21%, gaming stabilized, and LinkedIn grew, too.

41% of US advertisers expecting budget cuts due to tariffs plan to cut from social media, while 24% plan cuts to linear TV and gaming, per February 2025 from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Gaming opportunities for advertisers flourishing: IAB PlayFronts unveiled insights into how marketers can meet gamers where they鈥檙e at.

The feature builds on the popularity of 鈥淭he Six鈥� within Samsung鈥檚 Gaming Hub, where the game saw 42% growth in monthly active users from Q3 to Q4 2024 and nearly 50% growth in early 2025. In early testing, the format delivered a 53% lift in unaided brand recall and was preferred over traditional ads by 89% of viewers, per Samsung and MediaScience research.

This is the second 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.

AppLovin exits gaming in $900M sale to focus on AI-driven adtech: The company sells its entire "apps business," shifting its strategy to prioritize ad mediation, automation, and performance-based advertising.