To read the complete report, download it here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ad spend accelerated on Google Search, YouTube, and Amazon Sponsored Products, while Facebook and Instagram saw slower growth than in Q3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n YouTube remained a key Q4 channel, with most retailers shifting their YouTube spend to Google Demand Gen after the July transition. Video now accounts for 66% of Demand Gen spend in Q4 2025, up sharply from 28% a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon Sponsored Products delivered stronger holiday-season growth than Google paid search across most of Q4, though retailers saw solid results from both channels in the second half of the quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n Clicks and impressions surged across platforms, even as pricing growth weakened\u2014Google Search CPC fell 1%<\/strong>, Facebook CPM dropped 13%<\/strong>, and YouTube CPM declined 18%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reddit, Pinterest, and TikTok are embracing AI-driven campaigns, following Google and Meta, where AI already plays a major role. In Q4, Google\u2019s Performance Max drove 62% of retailer spend on Shopping ads, while Meta\u2019s Advantage+ accounted for 27% of retail spend on Meta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google Search ad spend and clicks grew 13% YoY in Q4 2025, aided by Amazon\u2019s absence, while CPCs stayed soft.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Advertisers’ spend on Microsoft paid search grew 16% year over year in Q4 2025, beating Google and accelerating from the prior quarter. Click growth slowed to 10%, but CPCs rebounded, rising 5% after declining in Q3. Amazon also continued to appear in Microsoft shopping ads through late 2025, after pulling out of Google\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n Google Shopping ads delivered strong scale with 16% spend growth and 17% click growth, even as CPCs fell 1% amid reduced competitive pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Performance Max accounted for 62% of Google Shopping spend and 61% of sales, with advertisers navigating evolving inventory to maintain near-parity ROAS versus standard Shopping campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n Advertisers are seeing some relief on brand keyword CPCs in Google text ads. After a steep 19% year-over-year jump in Q1 2025, brand CPC growth eased to just 2% by Q4. Non-brand CPCs remained relatively steady, increasing by about 3% in Q1 and Q2 before dipping slightly and ending Q4 down 1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta Ads impressions are rising, Instagram CPM growth is under 10%, and Reels ads have doubled their impression share on Facebook<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta ad impressions rose 17% YoY, the fastest growth rate since Q3 2023, while CPMs fell 7%, helping advertisers scale reach efficiently during the holidays. Ad spend growth, however, eased from 14% to 9% due to tougher year-over-year comparisons, even as two-year growth remained broadly stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook spend grew 3%, supported by 19% impression growth, as CPMs dropped sharply by 13% due to expanding Reels inventory. Instagram CPM growth slowed to 8%, the lowest since Q1 2024, as Reels surpassed Feed to become the largest source of ad impressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While retail spend on Meta\u2019s Advantage+ sales campaigns has dipped from the 38% seen in Q1 2025, they remain vital for retailers. In Q4, ASC still captured 27% of retail Meta spend, unchanged from Q3.<\/p>\n\n\n Pinterest ad spend rose 37% year over year in Q4, driven by higher impressions (+24%) and CPMs (+11%). Strong growth continued throughout 2025, with quarterly spend up at least 32%, supported by the adoption of Pinterest\u2019s AI-powered Performance+ tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon Sponsored Brands saw steady growth toward year-end, while Walmart Sponsored Products gained strong momentum in Q4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon Sponsored Products clicks jumped 23% YoY, driving 22% spend growth, while CPCs declined 1%, extending a multi-quarter pricing softening trend. Advertisers slightly ramped up spending on Amazon Sponsored Brands\u2014including Sponsored Brands video ads\u2014up 2% year over year, as a 12% rise in cost per click made up for an 8% drop in clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n Investment in Amazon Sponsored Display has declined sharply, with Q4 2025 spend down 47% Y\/Y and both clicks and CPC falling 27%. While Sponsored Display is becoming less central, overall display advertising on Amazon continues to grow as advertisers shift budgets to the Amazon DSP for premium inventory and audience targeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walmart Sponsored Products spend increased 14%, with 10% click growth and just 4% CPC growth, marking the platform\u2019s most efficient pricing trend since mid-2023.<\/p>\n\n\n While Walmart\u2019s onsite inventory remains highly valued, many advertisers are using its self-serve display tools to reach audiences offsite. In Q4, offsite placements drove 60% of spend, while onsite inventory generated just 26% of impressions but captured 40% of spend due to higher CPMs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Video and display ads drove strong efficiency gains in Q4 2025, with YouTube seeing higher impressions and lower CPMs due to increased Demand Gen adoption<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Advertisers spent 13% more on YouTube in Q4 2025 compared to last year. While impressions surged by 38%, the average CPM declined by 18%, signalling broader reach at a lower cost.<\/p>\n\n\n In Q4 2025, Shorts ads accounted for nearly 21% of YouTube video ad spend, behind skippable in-stream ads at 55%. Most Shorts spend went to TV screens (49%), followed by mobile (26%), while Demand Gen campaigns allocated just 11% of spend to Shorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google Demand Gen campaigns continued strong adoption, with 25% spend growth, 40% impression growth, and CPMs down 11%. Streaming video ad spend (excluding YouTube) grew 13%, as impressions rose 14% despite CPMs declining 1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon Prime Video ad spend jumped 31% quarter-over-quarter and 127% year-over-year, emerging as one of the fastest-growing premium video channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once again, click here<\/a> to download the complete report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related Links<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tinuiti\u2019s Q4 report revealed a strong blend of rising volumes and easing ad costs. Impressions and clicks climbed across major platforms, while CPCs and CPMs cooled, pointing to a more competitive yet increasingly efficient environment for advertisers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amazon-ads","category-googl-search-tips","category-microsoft-ads"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Amita","author_link":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/author\/amita\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27188"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27243,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27188\/revisions\/27243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Overall Trends: High Demand and Falling Prices Set the Stage for Q4 Growth<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Google-sales-US-Tinuiti-1024x645.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nPaid Search: Click Growth Near Five-Year Highs as CPCs Stay Muted<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Microsoft](\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Microsoft-US-paid-search-1024x407.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Google-PMax-campaign.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nPaid Social: Faster Impression Growth as CPMs Ease<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Advantage](\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/advantage-sale-campaigmeta-1024x475.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nHoliday Stability: Amazon and Walmart Lead the Way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Amazon](\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Amazon-sponsored-brand.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Walmart](\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Walmart-sponsored-product.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nVideo & Display: YouTube and Streaming Scale Rapidly on Lower CPMs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/YouTube-ad-growth.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n