Will TikTok’s China ties stymie its progress in US? Legislative and regulatory suspicions and scrutiny pile up even as the app gains favor with marketers and users.

As the ad revenue shortfall deepens, social media’s legacy players face new competition for users, a complicated situation with creators, and a social commerce rewind.

US government intensifies stance against TikTok: A permanent ban from government devices could push the public sector to further remove TikTok from devices. But some fear the service is too big to fail.

Keeping tabs on shifting consumer habits is paramount for brands in Canada. In 2023, we expect more changes in how media is consumed and what advertisers can do to tap into these new channels.

“Attention must be earned in an instant.” That’s according to our analyst Paul Verna. “The dominant ad formats [on social media] are below 15 seconds and in some cases as low as 3 seconds.”

Social’s share of total digital ad spending will shrink every year through 2024 at an accelerated rate. We

Economic conditions will have a huge effect on the retail, media, and marketing industries in 2023. For companies to succeed, the cost-conscious consumer must be front and center.

Our outlook for social ad spending in 2022 has deteriorated significantly since March. This report breaks down what went wrong in the past nine months, and what’s ahead in the next two years.

The digital advertising landscape is shifting and it’s every person for themselves in a fight to the top. Let’s get to know the players and place our bets on who will win the battle royale for ad dollars.

Amazon is the latest company to copy TikTok: The retailer is adding a continuous, shoppable feed to its app to enhance product discovery and grow sales.

Meta is struggling after hemorrhaging money on its metaverse ambitions and as Instagram faces serious competition from TikTok. Meanwhile, TikTok recently reduced its global revenue goals for the year and could be facing some regulatory and legal hurdles ahead. And don’t even get us started on Twitter.

Commerce isn’t driving revenues for social media platforms the way the platforms once hoped. That’s what our analyst Jasmine Enberg predicted during the keynote session of our “Attention! Trends and Predictions for 2023” event.

Government resistance against TikTok intensifies: The list of states banning TikTok on government devices keeps growing. Could intensifying scrutiny lead to an all-out US TikTok ban?

Last month, Atlantic writer Ian Bogost posed the incendiary question, “Is the age of social media ending?” No, according to our analysts. But it’s definitely changing, which presents an opportunity to reach younger consumers.

Another eventful year is on tap for retailers as inflation forces consumers to prioritize basics, supply chain snarls continue, and customer loyalty wanes. Retailers that cut costs or add new revenue streams—and provide frictionless customer experiences—will prevail.

TikTok is Gen Z’s No. 2 social commerce destination and is almost as popular as Facebook among millennial social buyers, per Klarna.

Though year-over-year growth of social buyers is slowing slightly following a two-year surge, US social commerce sales will continue to climb through 2025. We take a look at what’s driving this growth, which platforms are emerging as leaders, and what social buyers really want.

TikTok’s downgrade to about $10 billion for 2022 puts revenue estimates more in line with our own, which have TikTok at $9.89 billion in ad revenues this year, up from $3.88 billion in 2021.

We expect 2023 to usher in changes in ad spending, audience, and commerce that will create a new crop of digital leaders.