A trade war with the US will hinder economic performance in Canada this year. Ad spending overall is expected to lose the momentum gained in 2024. But many digital formats will benefit from the emphasis on return on ad spending.

TikTok extends its partnership with MLS: The move is part of a broader trend of brands investing in sports.

This is the Q1 2025 installment of our quarterly “Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

The 2024 US presidential election ushered in a new normal in brand safety, with prominent social media companies such as X and Meta shifting the burden of content moderation from internal teams and contractors to users.

OpenAI is floating a social app: The move would place the company in direct competition with X and Meta, but will require a unique value proposition to pay off.

The FTC’s challenge to Meta’s deals could fracture the social media giant's empire and signals that no acquisition, no matter its age, is safe from antitrust scrutiny.

Sports remains a profitable ad opportunity: Two-thirds of Americans are sports fans and over half have made a purchase based on audio ads.

Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs landed harder than expected. Uncertainty remains, given the pause on reciprocal tariffs for countries willing to negotiate with the US—along with an escalating trade war with China. Which markets will take the greatest hits? And how might our US forecasts change?

Sports discussions see growth on Threads: The shift indicates that the platform could be closer to outpacing X than initially thought.

Meta, TikTok, and X in hot legal water: The platforms are facing suits in the US and EU that could have implications for how advertisers invest.

Regulators may hit X with a $1 billion fine, escalating a standoff that could provoke Trump and push Musk to yank the platform from Europe.

xAI’s takeover of X gives it AI training data, compute power, and a ready-made audience—offering a path to revive X’s ad business and investor confidence.

X poised for ad sales growth for the first time under Musk: While we forecast sales being up 17.5% this year, the platform still has a long way to go.

When Southwest Airlines announced they were charging for bags, Amtrak posted on X, “Guess we’re the only ones doing free baggage now.” The post, followed by more info on Amtrak’s baggage policy, is an example of what Amtrak senior manager of social media Nicolle Lopez calls its infotainment strategy, designed to educate and entertain at the same time.

X is still a destination for news: Our Industry KPI data shows engagement varying dramatically throughout the year

The model, based on X’s Community Notes, may reduce bias but could leave misinformation unchecked when users can't agree on polarizing content.

Threads tests feature allowing users to select interests: The move could help the platform address its retention problem and draw creators.

Senators urge DOJ probe into X’s advertising efforts: The group of five Democratic senators allege that Elon Musk leverages his political power to bully advertisers into returning.

This week, new advertisers enter the podcast space, consumers discourage brand desperation, and brands take notes from Netflix.

Top-line time spent with media will grow very little in the US going forward, making it essential to identify which formats and platforms are winning the newly zero-sum competition for consumer attention.