YouTube is converging social media, streaming TV, digital audio, and product discovery in one platform. But how audiences use it depends on who is watching.​

The World Cup and presidential elections have lifted ad spending growth across all major media in 2026, but digital’s momentum will extend beyond the event-driven boost.

In our second-annual Pulse of the Consumer: UK Personal Care and Beauty Survey, shoppers share how dupes, social media, and AI are shaping product discovery.​

B2B digital ad spending growth is accelerating in 2026. Although mobile growth is slowing from its 2025 pace, mobile and video will still outpace overall B2B digital spending. Display’s share is expanding, while search remains important as AI changes how buyers research and validate vendors.

Turkey’s advertising and ecommerce markets are expanding at a measured pace, while shifts in AI adoption, media consumption, and digital shopping are reshaping consumer behavior.

AI is gaining influence over what consumers discover and consider long before it commands a meaningful share of the digital economy. But existing advantages in reaching consumers, earning trust, and driving transactions still matter.

Social media still sets Gen Z’s product discovery apart from that of non-Gen Z shoppers. But when it comes time to buy, Gen Zers are just as likely to turn to shopping websites and apps as physical stores.

Millennials are entering their peak earning years with deep digital fluency, but adulthood is changing their habits. AI is becoming a practical tool, digital fatigue is reshaping social media use, and family life is influencing media and shopping.

Marketers need stronger thumbnails and branding as passive exposure declines.

Facebook turns to video, commerce, and creators as users pull back: Marketers should reassess its media role and experiment beyond legacy tactics.

Facebook’s massive reach still attracts ad dollars even as its usage growth stalls. Commerce, video, and automated advertising offer fresh opportunities, but it has weak appeal among creators and younger users.

Meta’s settlement rewrites youth marketing: New teen safeguards will limit reach, making channel diversity and privacy compliance more critical.

This benchmark covers how ad buyers can calibrate their digital ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how publishers and solution providers can assess whether their ad revenues align with industry trends.​

This benchmark covers how ad buyers can calibrate their social media ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how publishers and solution providers can assess whether their ad revenues align with industry trends.​

Where Americans spend their time and where advertisers spend their money have come apart, and social media is the widest gap. Social platforms, particularly Meta, capture a disproportionate share of the nearly $500 billion US advertising market. "Over the last 12 months, we've seen a flurry of [media advertising] activity from outside the retail sector," said our analyst Ethan Cramer-Flood on a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers."

ChatGPT and Gemini have emerged as the clear leaders in the genAI platform race. Their advantage in awareness, usage, and paid adoption is widening the gap with rivals and shaping where marketers should focus their attention.

Thailand's digital market continues to evolve as ad investment grows, AI adoption accelerates, ecommerce expands, and consumers embrace digital-first shopping and media habits.

Three of the least likely scenarios in social media would also be the most disruptive: a regulatory ban on addictive feed design, a Facebook revival, and an AI chatbot building a $100 billion ad business. None of them is likely. Each one exposes a tension already at work, from how regulators treat engagement mechanics to how much advertising a chatbot can actually carry. "If the EU were to ban infinite scrolling, it seems pretty clear that that would significantly curtail the amount of time people spend watching these kinds of videos," said our analyst Max Willens on a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers." Willens and two other analysts walked through three "what if" predictions on the episode.

UK advertisers aren’t just chasing attention, they’re looking for measurable outcomes. Some channels thus attract oversized ad investments, while others remain undervalued. That’s not to say spending is perfectly aligned with time spent with media.

70% of US social buyers have made a purchase on TikTok in the past 12 months, more than on any other social platform, according to an April survey from Bazaarvoice and EMARKETER.