The 2025 Mid‑Year Global Advertising Forecast reflects a period of resilience and recalibration across major markets amid ongoing economic and geopolitical pressures.
Our latest This Year Next Year report introduces an updated ad‑revenue classification system and provides an evidence‑based view of how AI acceleration and shifting advertiser dynamics are influencing global media investment.
The December 2024 growth estimate of 7.7% for 2025 has been revised to 6.0%, reflecting disruptions to global trade and continued deglobalization pressures. Global advertising revenue is now projected to reach $1.08 trillion in 2025, with expected growth of 6.1% in 2026. Forecasts indicate a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% between 2025 and 2030, lower than the previously projected 6.4% for 2024–2029.
This year’s report also introduces a reclassification of advertising activity into four categories—Content, Commerce, Location, and Intelligence—offering a more accurate reflection of how investment is structured today and how it is likely to evolve. The analysis further distinguishes revenue patterns between large brand advertisers and all other advertisers, along with category‑level detail across sectors such as CPG and Auto.
Key Findings
Digital advertising continues to expand its lead, with pure‑play digital expected to account for 73.2% of global ad revenue in 2025, rising to 81.6% when digital extensions such as streaming TV, DOOH, and digital print are included.
Retail media remains a major growth driver, projected to reach $169.6 billion globally in 2025 and increasing to $252.1 billion by 2030, representing 18% of all ad revenue by the end of the decade.
User‑generated content is outpacing professionally produced formats. In 2025, more than half of content‑driven ad revenue will originate from platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Kuaishou, and Instagram Reels. Creator‑generated revenue is expected to reach $184.9 billion in 2025, a 20% increase from 2024, and to more than double to $376.6 billion by 2030.
TV, inclusive of streaming, is projected to grow 1.0% to $162.5 billion in 2025. Streaming TV is expected to contribute $41.8 billion in 2025 and to rise to $71.9 billion by 2030.
Out‑of‑home (OOH) investment remains steady, with digital OOH accounting for 41% of the $52 billion OOH market in 2025.
Print continues its structural decline, forecast to contract by –3.1% to $45.5 billion in 2025.
Audio advertising remains stable at $26.5 billion, with streaming growth offset by a –1.7% decrease in terrestrial formats.
Search (Intelligence) revenue is expected to grow 7.3% to $226.2 billion in 2025.
