Overview
- Emarketer, whose report Monday was cited across outlets, projects Meta at $243.46 billion in 2026 net ad revenue versus Google at $239.54 billion after traffic and content costs.
- The firm expects Meta’s ad growth to accelerate to 24.1% in 2026 while Google holds near 11.9%.
- Meta’s gains reflect AI recommendation systems that lifted Reels watch time in the U.S. by more than 30% year over year plus new ads on WhatsApp and Threads and wider use of Advantage+ tools.
- Market power is set to concentrate further as Meta, Google, and Amazon are forecast to capture 62.3% of global digital ad spend in 2026.
- Emarketer said the projection was completed before recent court rulings involving Meta and YouTube, so those outcomes are not reflected.