TikTok, the short-form video-sharing platform, is colossally popular among users and increasingly seen as a way to drive results for marketers across the full funnel, from discovery through to search and purchase: its importance in global advertising is undeniable even if its future in the US is in doubt – here’s what you need to know.
Get the key data points about TikTok spanning investment, consumption and performance: Platform Insights: TikTok 2025
Why TikTok Matters
If TikTok avoids a ban in the US, global advertising spend on the platform should reach $32 billion, a 24.5% year-on-year increase. With a faster rate of growth than either Facebook (9.3%) or Instagram (19.0%), this growth would see it take 11% share of total social spend worldwide.
It is also by far the most consumed. Total monthly usage on TikTok by far exceeds that of any other platform, with the average user spending more than 35 hours on the app each month in 2024 – more than double the average usage by Instagram users.
What’s Going On
The US remains TikTok’s largest market, but over the last five years its share of the platform’s total ad revenue has diminished, dropping from 43.3% in 2022 to 34.0% by 2026, according to WARC Media forecast. Ad revenue is growing faster outside of the US.
The TikTok story lives, naturally, under the shadow of a potential ban in the largest advertising market on earth.
“A 75-day deadline extension to 5 April by President Donald Trump does little to dispel the uncertainty around TikTok as an ongoing staple in many brands’ marketing plans,” report lead author Alex Brownsell, head of content for WARC Media says.
If a ban in the US is avoided, TikTok is forecast to earn $11.8bn in US ad revenue this year (up 21.0%, outpacing overall US social media ad investment, which is set to grow 10.6%), rising to $13.4bn in 2026.
Instagram stands to benefit most from a TikTok ban, WARC Media estimates, with spend also going to YouTube and Snapchat.
More than half (57%) of global TikTok users go to the platform’s search function to follow or find information about products and brands, according to We Are Social. Advertisers so far are “intrigued” but cautious over concerns such as effectiveness and safety.