Magna, the investment and intelligence arm of IPG Mediabrands, revised its global advertising forecast downward by 1.2 percentage points from its December projection, now expecting global ad revenue to reach $979 billion in 2025 at a 4.9% growth rate. The revision reflects “widespread disruption from trade tariffs” affecting trade-intensive markets including Japan, Germany, China, and the United States.
The more significant data point sits in Magna’s 2026 projection: global ad sales rising 6.3% to pass $1 trillion in revenue for the first time. The U.S. market alone will grow 7.8% and exceed $400 billion. Recovery catalysts include economic stabilization and major televised events including the FIFA World Cup, Winter Olympics, and U.S. midterm elections.
Channel growth projections show social media advertising leading at 14.6%, followed by connected TV at 13.8% and commerce/retail media at 12.1%. Digital now accounts for 68.7% of total global advertising spend. Magna also notes that Meta will produce $100.86 billion in net digital ad revenues in the U.S. in 2026, putting Meta ahead of Google on a net basis for the first time.
For marketing budget planners, the message is bifurcated: near-term caution around tariff exposure, with medium-term expansion driven by digital channel migration and event-driven inventory demand.
Related: programmatic supply chain transparency | CTV convergence in advertising
Source: Magna / IPG Mediabrands
