This Year Next Year 2026 Midyear Forecast.
WPP Media's midyear forecast raises its view of 2026 global ad revenue to about $1.3 trillion. It credits AI-driven investment and content-led formats such as streaming, gaming and social, while linear TV and audio stay flat.
By WPP Media · Jun 16, 2026
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WPP Media's midyear forecast raises its view of 2026 global ad revenue to about $1.3 trillion. It credits AI-driven investment and content-led formats such as streaming, gaming and social, while linear TV and audio stay flat.
Key findings
- Global ad revenue is forecast to grow 8.9% in 2026 to roughly $1.3 trillion (excluding US political spend), up from the 7.1% WPP Media forecast in December 2025.
- Advertising now accounts for its largest share of world GDP since 1999.
- Content-driven advertising (social, streaming TV, gaming and similar) is projected at $720.2bn in 2026, up 8.2%.
- Generative search advertising is expected to grow from $5.1bn in 2026 to more than $100bn by 2030.
- Outside China, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon hold 57.6% of the ad market.
Why it matters
It is one of the main forecasts holding companies use in planning, and it signals that generative search is becoming a paid media line in its own right.
About this report
Published by WPP Media, 2026-06-16. Paid report. Get the full report from WPP Media