If someone thinks tariffs affect geopolitics, they are right; if someone thinks tariffs and geopolitics impact advertising and marketing, they are righter. The issue quickly evolved into a hot topic: During a 2025 survey, nine in 10 responding
amidst the looming trade wars. The ad industry seems to have followed the money just as swiftly. The year-over-year (YoY)
stood below three percent in early 2025, after two months of consecutive double-digit increases. What is behind the deceleration trend?
Advertising in a post-tariff world
A 2025 study asked U.S. ad decision-makers which
advertiser categories' expenditures would be the most affected by tariffs. Around 40 percent mentioned retail and e-commerce, indicating a seismic shift – Amazon has been the
highest-spending advertiser in the U.S. for years. In 2023, its investments in advertising surpassed the second- (Comcast) and third-placed (P&G) brands combined. Consumer electronics ranked second in the 2025 poll, mentioned by one-third of the respondents. The same survey revealed the
media most likely to undergo cuts in ad spend due to tariffs according to U.S. marketers. First on the list was all traditional media combined, excluding television. A close second was social media, currently a darling of the ad industry.
What is next for the U.S. ad market
Due to political advertising during the election year, 2024 would already be a tough act to follow.
Investments in local advertising in the U.S., for example, were forecast to decrease by little more than one percent in 2025. Adding the tariffs to that scenario raises the stakes higher because it can affect advertisers' trust in the economy and consumers' behavior. As the U.S. remains the
world's largest advertising market, decisions made by brands and advertisers today will at least in part influence the global ad industry's response to both economic indicators and
potential boycotts.
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