TikTok’s 2026 looks just as uncertain as 2025: Despite new US owners, questions remain about content moderation and its algorithm

Gen Z worries, AI search shake-ups, and social media trust issues are driving major marketing shifts across all fronts.

TikTok Shop will surpass Target in US ecommerce in 2026, thanks to the platform’s growing influence over product discovery and shopping trends.

Tailoring marketing to Gen Alpha is proving critical for brands looking to capitalize on their emerging influence.

Reddit ad spend is growing 46.3% YoY, more than double Instagram's growth rate and five times TikTok's, according to a November report from Sensor Tower.

Women are reshaping healthcare. They’re driving demand for credible information, personalized wellness solutions, and community support. As women’s needs evolve through life stages, expectations and growth for women’s healthcare are rising.

TikTok has agreed to a sweeping US restructuring that creates a majority-American–controlled joint venture, fulfilling bipartisan divestment demands and reducing the threat of an outright ban. Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX will hold 50% ownership, with US-appointed directors overseeing data protection, moderation, and the retraining of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm. ByteDance will retain a minority 19.9% stake and continue managing global operations outside the US. The shift brings long-missing stability for advertisers but also creates operational distance from ByteDance’s global systems, potentially slowing innovation and altering performance patterns. The next year will be a critical recalibration period for brands and creators.

Creator marketing will scale in 2026 as brands chase measurable outcomes. At the same time, pressures from AI, shifting platform incentives, and rising automation will reshape how creators earn and grow.

From Gen Alpha’s social video boom to millennials’ tech anxieties and boomers’ ecommerce power, this report spotlights the generational forces that will drive consumer behavior in 2026.

"The retail media landscape is only becoming more crowded, but Target's guest insights are often cited as a key differentiator," said our analyst Sarah Marzano during EMARKETER's recent Commerce Media Summit.

YouTube’s vast, diverse user base makes it the most widely adopted digital platform in the US. But engagement varies meaningfully across age, race and ethnicity, and gender. This report breaks down who is watching and how usage differs across demographic groups.

Digital ad spending remains resilient although economic signals are wobbly. AI-driven optimization, richer first-party data, and surging digital video will keep growth strong even as search shifts and traditional budgets fade.

AI-assisted shopping and advertising will surge as the Gulf states support innovation, but a creator content boom will cause tensions around censorship.

Generational splits shape how consumers find, research, and trust banks. Younger adults move through digital channels with ease, while older adults rely on branches, human support, and established institutions.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our “very specific but highly unlikely” predictions for 2026: sports team sponsorships pushing the envelope, the ceiling for TikTok Shop, and a budding relationship between creators and retail media networks. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Analyst Ross Benes, Senior Forecasting Analyst Oscar Orozco, and Principal Analyst Max Willens. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

In 2026, AI will reshape advertiser workflows and behaviors, while rising video consumption will boost CTV and YouTube.

Social networks will claim close to 32% of US digital ad spending in 2026, as powerful AI systems and improved video monetization help push social past a plateau in time spent among US consumers.

Australia has enacted the world’s first nationwide ban on social-media accounts for anyone under 16, forcing platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to remove underage users or face major penalties. Policymakers and researchers will study the effects on mental health, offline behavior, and migration to unregulated platforms—insights that could influence US policy, where similar proposals are already gaining traction. For advertisers, the implications are significant: removing millions of teen users would constrict future reach curves, shift youth attention toward gaming-adjacent spaces, raise competition for compliant inventory, and complicate early brand-building. Australia’s experiment may foreshadow US market disruption.

For social platforms, AI hype is colliding with user fatigue and rising regulations. In the US, they face stalled engagement and tougher rules as people demand more control and more human experiences.

The US accounts for just 10% of TikTok users but generates 41% of the platform's ad revenue worldwide, according to a July forecast from EMARKETER.