Advertisers increase spend on Google, Pinterest amid TikTok shutdown and Meta’s content moderation makeover

The news: Google, YouTube, and Pinterest’s shares of US paid media traffic increased between Q4 2024 and January 20, 2025, while TikTok and Meta’s declined, according to analytics provider MikMak, which analyzed real-time commerce data from 2,000 brand customers and adjusted it for seasonality. (MikMak is an EMARKETER KPI data partner.)

The changes coincide with TikTok’s temporary US shutdown on January 18–19 and Meta’s January 7 announcement that it will switch from third-party fact-checking to X-like Community Notes to moderate content.

By the numbers:

• TikTok’s share of US paid media traffic was down by roughly 37.9% between Q4 2024 and January 20. Meta’s share fell by 7.8% during the same time period.
• Shares of traffic from Google search and YouTube were up 80.9% and 73.3%, respectively, between Q4 2024 and January 20. Pinterest, which has been courting advertisers with bonus ad space and creative support to repurpose assets, saw its share increase by 7.4%.
• On January 19, TikTok represented 1.76% of traffic to MikMak. Smaller brands (<$250 million in revenues) had up to 30% of their paid traffic live on January 19, compared with under 1% for larger brands (>$250 million in revenues).

What it means: Big brands have more diversified portfolios and are more risk-averse than smaller companies. They may be returning to TikTok more slowly post-shutdown as uncertainty remains and testing out more brand-safe alternatives ahead of Meta’s switch.

• On January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to delay enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days, but that is likely to face legal challenges. It’s also unclear how TikTok might change if the new US administration and ByteDance are able to come to a deal.
• In its announcement, Meta said that Community Notes would be rolled out over the next couple of months and “improved over the course of the year.”

Yes, but: Some of these trends could be short-lived.

• Meta is insulated from an X-like advertiser exodus due to its scale, strong ad performance, and its wide base of small-and-medium-sized businesses. A new report that Community Notes won’t apply to paid ads could also quell big advertisers’ fears.
• Many advertisers have already optimized their Google search spend. As search behaviors continue to shift away from traditional search engines, retail media and social platforms will likely pick up more lower-funnel spending.
• With or without a TikTok ban, Snapchat is poised to capture more ad spending in 2025 as new ad formats like Sponsored Snaps and Promoted Places ramp up.

The big picture: Uncertainty around TikTok and Meta is spurring further diversification in the ad market. While Meta and Google will remain the largest ad platforms—as well as the biggest financial beneficiaries of a TikTok ban—advertisers are looking for alternative places to spend their dollars.

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