tay on top of the latest digital advertising trends with Tinuiti’s Q2 report. It explores how major platforms like Google, Meta, and Amazon performed, using anonymized campaign data to offer insights that can help advertisers make smarter decisions and stay ahead of the competition.
The complete report can be downloaded here.
Overall Trends: Amazon Takes the Lead as Google Growth Remains Strong
Amazon Sponsored Products stood out as the biggest growth driver. Google also saw strong growth without much increase in CPCs.
Amazon advertisers are spending significantly more across the platform. Sponsored Products spending grew 38% YoY, while Sponsored Brands climbed from 3% to 20%. Amazon DSP saw the biggest jump, rising from 41% to 67%.
Google Search had a strong quarter, with ad spending up 14%. Google Shopping stood out even more, growing 18% as advertisers continued to invest in it. What’s really striking about Google’s numbers is that advertisers barely paid more to get that growth. Overall, Google Search CPC increased only 1%, while Google Shopping CPC actually declined 1%.
Facebook’s spending increased 7%, but a 13% increase in CPM largely drove this. Instagram spending grew 17% while its CPM remained flat, helped by strong impression growth from Reels. YouTube spending grew 15%, with impressions up 19% and CPM down 3%.
Paid Social: Meta CPMs Rebound While Reddit Gains Momentum
Meta CPMs jumped 10%,and Reddit delivered 33% spending growth alongside an 83% CPM increase
Meta ad costs continued to climb, with average CPMs rising 10% year over year—the biggest increase since Q1 2022. While advertisers spent 11% more overall, impressions grew by just 2%, showing that they’re paying more to reach roughly the same audience.
Facebook ad spending rose 7%, even as impressions fell 5%. The main reason was higher ad costs, with CPMs jumping 13% after declining 4% in Q1.
Instagram saw stronger growth in Q2, with both ad spend and impressions up 17%, while CPMs stayed flat. Reels continued to gain ground, accounting for 35% of ad impressions—up from 21% a year earlier. Stories remained the top placement at 39%, while Feed’s share dropped to 26%.
Reddit saw the fastest spending growth among the social platforms, with ad spend up 33% year over year. But that growth came at a steep price: CPMs jumped 83%, following a 71% rise in Q1. In short, more advertisers are turning to Reddit, but reaching its audience is becoming significantly more expensive.
Paid Search: Google CPCs Stay Under Control as Shopping Continues to Grow
Google Search spend rose 14%, while CPCs stayed almost flat, up just 1%. Shopping CPCs fell 1%, while Microsoft Ads saw CPCs jump 19%
Google Search continued to be one of the more stable areas of digital advertising. Spending grew by just under 14%, while clicks rose 13%. Average CPC increased by only 1% year over year, keeping costs relatively steady despite higher spending. Google Shopping spending rose 18%, with clicks up 19% and CPC down 1%.
Amazon’s continued absence from most Google Shopping auctions appears to be helping other advertisers. According to Tinuiti, Amazon’s withdrawal from most U.S. Shopping listings has boosted click growth for competitors while also easing some of the pricing pressure in the auctions.
In Q2 2026, Performance Max accounted for 60% of spending across Google Shopping and PMax campaigns among advertisers running both. That’s down from 67% in Q1, showing that advertisers are continuing to shift their budgets between the two campaign types. PMax also generated 60% of total sales, delivering a ROAS similar to standard Shopping campaigns.
Google text ad spending increased 11%, clicks grew 8%, and CPC rose 3%. Brand keyword CPCs actually declined 1%, while non-brand CPCs increased 4%.
Microsoft search ads continued to see steady growth in Q2 2026, with advertiser spending up 7% year over year. CPCs were the bigger story, jumping 19% compared with last year. Unlike Google, where CPC growth has remained relatively soft, Microsoft is seeing a much sharper increase. Amazon also continues to be active in Microsoft’s Shopping ads, helping maintain competition in the space.
Commerce Media: Amazon and Walmart Advertising Accelerate
Amazon Sponsored Products jumped 38% and Walmart Sponsored Products surged 51%, while Amazon DSP spending grew 67%
Amazon Sponsored Products spending increased 38%, clicks rose 37%, and CPC increased only 1%. Attributed sales grew even faster, rising 44%. Sponsored Brands saw a major jump in Q2 2026, with spending growing 20% year over year after steady 2–3% growth in previous quarters. Clicks also increased 4%, marking the format’s first positive growth since Q3 2024. However, CPCs continued to climb, rising by double digits for the fifth quarter in a row.
Amazon DSP spending grew 67%, the fastest growth rate since Q2 2021. Impressions increased 60%, while CPM rose 4%. Among advertisers active on both the DSP and Amazon Ad Console, the DSP accounted for 44% of total ad spend, up from 43% in Q1.
Walmart Sponsored Products continued to gain momentum in Q2, with ad spending up 51% year over year despite a tougher comparison. Clicks also jumped 52%, while CPCs edged down 1%, suggesting advertisers are getting significantly more traffic without paying more per click. The share of all Walmart search ad spending attributed to Sponsored Brands rose from 5% in the first quarter to 7% in the second.
Video and Display: YouTube CPMs Fall as Streaming and GDN Take Different Paths
YouTube delivered 19% impression growth with a 3% CPM decline, while GDN CPMs rose 16% despite a 9% drop in impressions.
YouTube is delivering more reach for less. Ad spending increased 15%, while impressions grew by 19%. At the same time, CPMs fell 3%, giving advertisers more impressions without a proportional rise in costs. YouTube Shorts now account for 17% of video ad spend, while skippable in-stream ads still lead with 62%. One surprising finding: 60% of Shorts ad spend came from TV screens, showing that even vertical Shorts are reaching viewers beyond mobile devices.
Google Display Network showed almost the opposite trend. Spending increased 6%, but impressions declined 9%. At the same time, average CPM increased 16%.
Google Demand Gen continued to grow in Q2, but growth slowed. Spending rose 12% year over year, down from 22% in Q1, while impressions grew 22%. Average CPMs fell 8%, helping advertisers reach more users at a lower cost.
Amazon Prime Video ads saw strong growth in Q2 2026, with spending up 48% year over year and impressions rising 56%. At the same time, average CPMs fell 5%, giving advertisers more reach for their budgets. The earlier-than-usual June Prime Day also helped drive this growth, as brands increased ad spending before, during, and after the event to capture shoppers.
Once again, click here to download the complete report.
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