Source: EMARKETER Forecast, December 2025 - January 2026
Note: includes advertising that appears on desktop and laptop computers as well as mobile phones, tablets, and other internet-connected devices for all formats mentioned; includes contextual text links, paid inclusion, and paid listings; excludes display-oriented formats on social networks, even if triggered by search queries
Additional Note: The Supreme Court’s invalidation of 2025 IEEPA-based tariffs lifts a large cost and cash-flow drag on import-intensive goods advertisers, freeing up margin and refunds that modestly increase US search ad budgets versus the Q4 2025 baseline.
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 from major ad publishers, estimates from other research firms, data from benchmark sources, consumer media consumption trends, consumer device usage trends, and EMARKETER interviews with executives at ad agencies, brands, media publishers, and other industry leaders