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The startup is building momentum to challenge Google but faces IP hurdles in the fierce AI search landscape.

Despite TikTok鈥檚 user engagement prowess and lightning-fast ad revenue growth over the past few years, its user monetization still lags the Meta properties by a wide margin. TikTok has been improving its time-to-revenues performance ratio, though, unlike Snapchat, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter), which for the most part, haven鈥檛 been shrinking the gaps shown below.

As the retail media industry has matured, some retailers are beginning to make select ad inventory available to non-endemic advertisers, extending the monetization potential of their first-party transaction-based audience data. Non-endemic advertising can include on-site, in-store, and off-site formats.

Improved monetization of its user base, then, will make up the difference. After surpassing $100 for the first time in 2024, we expect TikTok鈥檚 US average revenue per user (ARPU) to rise 20% YoY in 2025, to $131.79. It will exceed $152 in 2026.

Create new revenue streams from the monetization of data. Large-scale retailers can leverage comprehensive customer data as the foundation for retail media offerings with advanced targeting capabilities. Why does unified commerce matter? The path to purchase is no longer linear.

笔别谤辫濒别虫颈迟测鈥檚 monetization plans are unconventional, too. Its chief business officer, Dmitry Shevelenko, told Digiday that it will not serve ads above or within search results like Google. Instead, Perplexity will allow advertisers to influence suggested follow-up questions.

US P2P apps need to tap new uses and services to stay competitive, especially amid Zelle鈥檚 dominance. Here鈥檚 how each app sizes up and differentiates to attract younger generations.

Why it matters: YouTube鈥檚 advertising revenue growth, while slightly below analyst expectations, still demonstrates the platform鈥檚 robust engagement and monetization capabilities. The strong connected TV (CTV) viewing growth underscores the shift from traditional TV to streaming, with YouTube capitalizing on this trend.

The picture-in-picture format could be a promising solution for YouTube to increase livestream monetization, while reducing the risk of losing viewers. What it means for advertisers: Because YouTube鈥檚 new format makes it less likely to skip or ignore the ads, advertisers should capitalize on the less-intrusive experience by creating compelling, contextually relevant ads that complement the livestream.

With limited monetization opportunities, however, marketers must get creative and rely largely on organic efforts. Much of this revolves around creating shareworthy content, i.e., posts and videos that people want to send to their networks.

Monetization via subscriptions limits digital audio ad slots. The relatively low ad spend reflects, in part, limited inventory. Audio subscriptions will account for 63.0% of digital audio revenues in 2024. Even when taking time spent into consideration, audio advertising remains low. Digital audio will earn 5 cents per user hour in 2024, compared with 8 cents for radio and 21 cents for TV.

鈥淭he Google executives are like, 鈥榃e're pleased with Shorts monetization progress,鈥� Great, glad to hear you're pleased. But [that doesn鈥檛 give us] much concrete to comment on.鈥�. It鈥檚 safe to say Shorts is helping increase Youtube viewership, Mitchell-Wolf said.

During the earnings call, Meta鈥檚 Li sidestepped an analyst question about Marketplace monetization, saying that 鈥淢arketplace is one prong in a broader commerce strategy.鈥�. Meta allows advertisers in most industries to place ads in Marketplace, but most shopping is consumer-to-consumer. Advertisers also have the option to run ads in Facebook Groups鈥� feeds.

Creators have more monetization options than ever before. Expanding on and owning their revenue streams will set them up for long-term success. For more on how creators are diversifying their revenue streams, look out for our next creator economy report, publishing in May. 蘑菇AV research is based on the idea that multiple sources and a variety of perspectives lead to better analysis.

The tentative search for alternative monetization strategies has not slowed mobile ad growth. X (formerly Twitter), Snap, and Facebook鈥攁long with a handful of other media companies鈥攈ave all explored ad-free versions of their services. But that trend has had little effect on the growth of mobile ad sales, which should increase by 14.4% YoY in 2024 to top $200 billion for the first time.

YouTube pause ads grow with smart TV rollout: As YouTube explores passive ad formats, it must balance ad revenue with audience satisfaction amid mixed reactions from users.

Tepid fixed POS terminal growth masks evolving monetization and upgrade opportunities. From 2023 to 2027, it will rise by an average annual rate of just 1.7%. But 鈥渁s a service鈥� models turn a single purchase into recurring hardware and software revenues. Autonomous and biometric checkout could increase terminal replacement rates. Portability and new use cases drive mPOS growth.

Monetization challenges are a major reason for the platforms鈥� pivot. Short-video ads are primarily served between videos, limiting ad loads and placements, and making them easy for users to skip. Meta will stop reporting Reels鈥� contribution to revenues.

Short video will face a reckoning as monetization problems persist and messaging grows. TikTok will encroach further on Amazon as it eyes super app status. Platform partnerships will shift the ad spending landscape. China鈥檚 influence shakes up online shopping. Digital wallets will cement their position as everyday commerce enablers鈥攊n or out of the store.

Advertising will continue to drive app monetization as consumers spend more time on their favorite apps. And generative AI (genAI) will maintain its disruptive track, fundamentally transforming search and virtual assistants. Mobile apps still drive advertising growth. Social media is the big driver of mobile advertising.