As 2025 approaches its midpoint, three advertising forecasters—Magna, WPP Media, and Madison and Wall—have produced studies explaining what they predict to happen in the second half of the year. These are the most significant trends reshaping the industry.

For the first time, retail media will attract more worldwide advertising revenue than television.

Magna, a company of IPG Mediabrands, forecasts that retail media networks would produce $163 billion by 2025. Meanwhile, television and streaming platforms are expected to generate $155 billion.

Last year, Magna stated that retail media generated $144 billion, lagging television’s $163 billion.

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WPP Media, a branch of ad giant WPP, predicts a similar outcome: By the end of the year, retail media will account for 15.7% of all worldwide advertising investments, compared to TV and streaming’s 15.1% share.

Despite retail media’s growing trend, consultancy and consulting firm Madison and Wall predicts a “significant deceleration” throughout 2025 due to the “expected consequences of higher tariffs.”

According to WPP Media research, ad dollars spent on user-generated content on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram are on track to outnumber those spent on content from established media businesses.

Overall, advertising investments in artists and influencers will total $184.9 billion in 2025, up 20% from last year. WPP Media predicts that number will more than treble to $376.6 billion by 2030.

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While the distinction between amateur and professional can be hazy—WPP Media, for example, classified MrBeast, who has over 400 million YouTube subscribers, as the latter—the rise in sponsorships, brand partnerships, and platform-based advertising centered on internet personalities indicates a significant shift in the type of content people consume.

During a press conference, Kate Scott-Dawkins, WPP Media’s global president of business intelligence, called the move as a “changing of the tides” event in media.

Magna and WPP Media have reduced their worldwide ad spend expectations for 2025 from December estimates.

Magna now expects year-over-year advertising investments to rise 4.9% to $979 billion, down from a previously estimated 6.1% increase.

According to Vincent Létang, evp of global market research at Magna, factors contributing to the lower prediction included decreasing optimism in economic forecasts and lower company confidence.

Similarly, WPP Media predicts that global ad spending would increase by 6% to $1.1 trillion in 2025, excluding political advertising in the United States, up from 7.7% previously. Economic deglobalization and disruptions in international trade are among the reasons for the modification.

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Madison and Wall expect that ad spending in the United States, excluding political advertising, will rise by 6% in 2025. While this figure is higher than the 3.6% growth projection released in March, it is still lower than any of the firm’s annual predictions dating back to 2020, when US ad spend fell 2.1%.

According to Brian Wieser, CEO of Madison and Wall, the adjustment was caused by an American economy that appeared solid in the first quarter as measured by indices like as inflation and consumer expenditure.

At the same time, Wieser cautioned that current trade discussions and economic policies could stifle future growth. His overall perspective is “somewhat pessimistic.”

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