Advertising on social media is increasingly defined by automated systems that can handle everything from the creative to the targeting. Dialogue—and tensions—between platforms and large agencies and brands have led platforms to introduce more controls.

Key Question: How are advertisers balancing spending between platforms’ automated offerings and their more traditional approaches to spending on social?

Key Stat: Retail advertisers spent more than one-third of their Meta budgets on Advantage+ sales campaigns in Q2 2025, per Tinuiti.