In this week’s Week in Charts, AI drives investment in MMM startups, Meta captures 80 percent of social spend, and short-form video boosts brand performance.
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AI Drives Investment in Marketing Mix Modeling Startups
AI marketing mix modeling startups received $4.4 million in global investment during the first nine months of 2025, as AI chatbots and agents enable marketers to access and analyse measurement results in real-time. The data from CB Insights and EMARKETER suggests investment spiked in 2024 following the launch of ChatGPT. “Investors poured more money into AI MMM startups in 2024 than they had in any year besides 2022, the year after Apple’s App Tracking Transparency rocked the entire ad ecosystem,” said the report.
Meta Captured 80 Percent of Social Media Ad Spend in 2025
Facebook took half of all social media ad spend globally in 2025, according to the latest forecasts from WARC Media. When combined with spending on Instagram, this means Meta captured 80 percent of social media ad revenues last year. The forecast noted that Meta, Alphabet and Amazon are expected to take 56.1 percent of all global ad spend (excluding China) in 2025, rising to 58 percent in 2026.
Can US CTV Growth Make Up for Linear TV Ad Revenue Declines?
Linear TV ad revenues in the US are projected to fall around 7 percent YoY for the next two years, according to forecasts from MoffettNathanson. Meanwhile US CTV ad revenues are expected to rise by about 16 percent YoY, but the analysts warned that growth will decelerate after 2027, “as the easy lift from linear-to-CTV budget shifts fades.”
Social Commerce, Short-Form Video, Promotions and UX Drive Conversion for Brands
Short-form video content is a major driver of conversion performance for brands, according to a Rithum survey of brand executives in the US and UK, with 52 percent of respondents citing the impact of short-form video. “High-impact conversion strategies are increasingly native, visual, and immediate, meeting customers where they socialise (which is increasingly also where they shop),” said the report.
The Week in Stocks
Agencies
S4 Capital’s share price rallied last week following its 52-week low at the end of the year, when the company cut its full-year revenue guidance for the fourth time in 2025.
TV
Shares in Canal+ jumped on Monday at the news the pay-TV company has signed a multi-year agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to distribute the HBO Max streaming service in numerous European markets.
Publishers
Ströer’s stock price climbed 4 percent last week, but has fallen by 18 percent over the past six months.
Ad Tech
Teads’ share price recovery last month proved short-lived, as the video ad tech firm continues to feel the effects of a Q3 earnings miss and ongoing integration challenges from its merger with Outbrain.
Tech
Adobe stock took another hit on Monday after analysts warned that the company’s AI features, including Firefly, have yet to contribute meaningfully to revenue, despite gains in adoption.
