The news: Global ad spending is now expected to rise 7.4% to reach $1.17 trillion in 2025, driven by social media and digital investments, per WARC’s updated forecast. The forecast is 1.2 percentage points higher than WARC’s June forecast, marking WARC’s first positive ad spending revision in over a year.

• Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon will account for nearly two-thirds of new ad spending, and nine out of 10 incremental ad dollars will go to digital platforms, according to the report.
• Social media will now account for 40% of new ad dollars, with social spending estimated to grow 14.9% to $306.4 billion, accounting for 26.2% of global ad spend. Sixty percent of social spending will go to Meta platforms.
• Global ad spending will continue its trajectory, growing 8.1% in 2026 to reach $1.27 trillion.