Latest Marketing & Advertising News
Ad-Supported TV Reaches Historic 74.2% of Total Viewing in Q4 2025
Ad-supported television represented 74.2% of overall TV viewing in Q4 2025, marking its highest point throughout the year. The medium experienced a 9% increase compared to Q3 2025, outpacing the 7% increase in total TV viewing, driven primarily by football and young adult audiences
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Sports Advertising Accounts for Nearly 30% of Ad-Supported Viewing
Sports content accounted for nearly 30% of all ad-supported TV viewing among adults ages 25-54 in Q4 2025. The NBA has increased its viewership by 18% this season by understanding how different platform age profiles attract different advertisers and extend brand reach
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Nielsen Releases 2026 Upfront Planning Guide for Multiplatform TV
Nielsen launched its 2026 Upfront Planning Series with comprehensive data on ad-supported TV viewership trends across key demographics and sports. For the first time, Nielsen reported demographic information on free ad-supported streaming (FAST) and advertising video on demand (AVOD), revealing that each ad-supported viewing option attracts different audience profiles
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Virtual World Brand Integrations Surge Past Standalone Experiences
In 2025, brands launched 335 integrations within existing virtual world experiences, outpacing the 252 new standalone branded worlds. This shift signals that marketers are prioritizing measurable outcomes and ongoing engagement over fully brand-owned environments
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Roblox and Fortnite Dominate Virtual World Brand Activations
Nearly 90% of brand activations in 2025 took place on Roblox and Fortnite, platforms hosting thousands of creator-built experiences. Average brand activity has risen from 1.4 to 1.8 activations per brand in just two years, signaling growing confidence in virtual channels
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Meta Completes Global Rollout of Threads Advertising
Meta officially completed the global rollout of Threads as an advertising placement in January 2026, introducing carousel ads and Advantage+ catalog ads. Threads is estimated to have over 137 million daily active users as of early 2026, rapidly catching up to platforms like X and Snapchat
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Threads Offers Lower CPMs and Reduced Competition for Early Adopters
As a newer ad placement, Threads provides unique advantages including potentially lower-than-average CPMs, reduced competition, and increased visibility compared to established placements. Threads ads appear natively within the home feed for campaigns with Conversions, Traffic, App Installs, and Engagement objectives
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Marketers Prioritize Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook Investment in 2026
Marketers plan to invest more resources on Instagram (72%), TikTok (69%), and Facebook (59%) this year. Around 62% of marketers plan to spend more on Facebook activity, especially those with at least 650,000 followers where 73% will increase investment
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Instagram Shifts Focus Toward Entertainment and Short-Form Video
Instagram's role has shifted from community-building toward entertainment, with short-form video posted between Tuesdays and Thursdays generating the most attention. Around 48% of Facebook users especially engage with short-form video, making this format critical for brand visibility
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Gen Z Shows Declining Trust in TikTok Despite High Engagement
Around 44% of Gen Zers who use TikTok engage with the platform more than once a day, but 60% of Gen Zers do not trust the platform as much as they did in the past. Young consumers are increasingly jaded and want to decrease screen time, requiring brand videos to be exceptionally engaging to succeed
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