Marketing’s AI Shift: Meta, Google & Netflix Drive Record Ad Growth

33%

Meta and Google posted strong Q1 ad growth powered by AI, with Meta’s ad business rising 33% and Google’s ad revenue reaching $77.25B, driven by 19% search and 11% YouTube growth. Meta also raised its 2026 AI infrastructure spending outlook to as much as $145B, while Google’s cloud revenue surged 63% to $20B.

57%

Fossil’s “Big Tic” campaign drove a 57% increase in brand recall and a 10% boost in awareness using InMobi’s AI-powered ad platform. The campaign delivered 20.5M impressions, reached 7.1M users, and achieved engagement rates 31% above industry benchmarks.

13.7M

Netflix’s ad-supported tier is rapidly growing, with 13.7M ad-supported subscriptions in Q1 2026, just behind 14.1M ad-free users. The platform now reaches 11.9M people in the UK, while 68% of new subscribers chose the ad tier. Netflix also expects ad revenue to hit $3B in 2026, double 2025 levels — supported by a 70% growth in advertisers to over 4,000 brands and rising demand for streaming ads.

$1B

Criteo surpassed $1B in Q1 2026 media spend for the first time, marking an 8% year-over-year increase driven by growth in its performance and retail media businesses. However, total revenue declined 9% to $425M, while retail media revenue dropped 32% due to changes in partnerships with Roundel and Uber Eats.

69%

Reddit posted a strong Q1 2026, with revenue jumping 69% to $663M and ad revenue rising 74% to $625M, while daily active users grew 17% to 126.8M. The company also reported earnings of $1.01 per share, beating analyst expectations and pushing shares higher after results. Reddit expects Q2 revenue between $715M and $725M as it expands AI-powered search and personalization features, despite growing competition from AI platforms like ChatGPT.

18%

Pinterest delivered a strong Q1 2026 with revenue rising 18% to $1.01B, while monthly active users grew 11% to a record 631M. AI-powered ad tools and stronger advertiser demand helped the company beat earnings expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.27. Pinterest also forecasted Q2 revenue between $1.13B and $1.15B.

72%

Customer reviews are now Gen Z’s most trusted brand signal, with 72% of US Gen Z consumers relying on reviews over ads, influencers, or branded content when evaluating brands. Social media also plays a major role in discovery, with 73% of Gen Z using platforms like TikTok for product research and reviews.