China now owns 20% of global ad market
China's booming digital economy has boosted its share of the global ad market, challenging the United States' long reign as the world's largest ad market.
China's 20% share of the global ad market is now greater than the country's share of global GDP, according to WPP Media.
Why it matters: Chinese ad sellers are finding enormous success selling ads to audiences globally, especially in the U.S. But U.S. tech giants are still largely banned from China.
By the numbers: Nine of the world's top 25 ad sellers today are Chinese, including TikTok-parent ByteDance, Alibaba, Temu-owner PDD Holdings, Tencent, Baidu, JD.com, Kuaishou, Meituan and Xiaomi, according to a new ad forecast from WPP Media.
In 2025, the top five advertisers globally are all tech firms and two are Chinese: Google, Meta, ByteDance, Amazon and Alibaba.
In 2011, the top five advertisers globally were mostly U.S. publishers: Google, Viacom and CBS, News Corp and Fox, Comcast and Disney.
Catch up quick: The growth of China's economy and middle class over the past decade laid the foundation for the country's rapid ad expansion. But its mobile-first internet culture accelerated its dominance.
Chinese tech firms have been innovating for the smartphone "to an even greater and faster degree than in other markets which went through a desktop phase first," said Kate Scott-Dawkins, the global president of business intelligence at WPP Media, who authored the report.
Zoom in: Over the past several years, Chinese ad sellers have gained dominance by leaning into AI-fueled retail media innovation.
This year, China's share of all retail media globally is 44.1%, driven by e-commerce giants like JD.com and Alibaba, per WPP Media.
But rivals are gaining ground. By 2030, China's share of retail media ad dollars globally is expected to dip to less than 40% as the U.S., U.K. and others scale up, according to Scott-Dawkins.
Zoom out: China's ascent in the global advertising hierarchy mirrors a broader shift in tech and economic influence. Chinese platforms are shaping ad innovation with AI-driven commerce and mobile-first experiences.
Social and entertainment apps like TikTok have supercharged their ad businesses by expanding their live shopping and e-commerce features.
Chinese platforms like TikTok and Temu are rapidly scaling in Western markets. But U.S. tech firms like Google and Meta remain largely blocked from operating in China, limiting the opportunity for reciprocal growth.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Android Authority
23 minutes ago
- Android Authority
Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 Wallpaper Studio offers a home for its best customization tools
Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Google's been refreshing its Wallpapers & style app for Android 16 QPR1 with new features like Magic Portrait and theme support. With QPR1 Beta 2 the company has started grouping together its wallpaper creation and editing tools under a new Wallpaper Studio banner. This replaces the previous 'suggested photos' view. When you're interested in customizing the look and feel of your Pixel phone, there's probably nowhere better to start than Google's own Wallpaper & style app. It already offered a ton of control over setting up both your lock screen and home screen, and it's only been getting better as of late, thanks to some smart UI updates in QPR1 Beta 1. With this week's release of QPR1 Beta 2 we've been digging around in search of everything new Google's managed to cook up, and have identified some further improvements hitting Wallpaper & style. In Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2, when you go to select a wallpaper in the Wallpaper & style app (or simply accessed through system settings) you'll discover a new Wallpaper Studio section up top. Now we should be clear that functionally we're not seeing anything new here; the actual wallpaper creation and editing tools found with this release are all ones we were already aware of, but are now being grouped together in this convenient fashion. That offers a one-stop shop for not just generating emoji wallpaper, but also taking advantage of Google's powerful effects and AI tools. Those include options like making pseudo-3D effects with Cinematic wallpapers or tapping into the generative power of the AI wallpaper tools Google introduced with the Pixel 8 series. Maybe the coolest present here is the Magic Portrait feature we only just got to know with QPR1 Beta 1, which beyond offering some clever framing modes allows you to do stuff like applying dynamic weather effects, helping your phone's wallpaper reflect the world around you. While we'd definitely love to see Wallpaper & style pick up even more functionality along that line, a little UI cleanup and the introduction of this appropriate Wallpaper Studio branding is just fine by us, too. Keep checking in with Android Authority for even more coverage of the changes Google's packed into QPR1 Beta 2. We've already spotted things like a status bar reorganization and smarter volume controls, and you had better believe that the list will only keep growing. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
The Verge
33 minutes ago
- The Verge
Google will reduce Pixel 6A battery capacity due to overheating issues
Earlier this year, Google shipped a Pixel 4A update to some owners that lowered battery life to mitigate overheating risk, and soon, it's going to do the same for the Pixel 6A. 'A subset of Pixel 6A phones will require a mandatory software update to reduce the risk of potential battery overheating,' Google's Alex Moriconi says in a statement to The Verge. 'The update will enable battery management features that will reduce capacity and charging performance after the battery reaches 400 charge cycles. We'll contact impacted customers next month, with all the information they need to address the issue.' As reported by Android Authority, at least two users have reported instances of their Pixel 6A phones catching fire, with one person on Reddit saying their Pixel 6A 'spontaneously combusted in the middle of the night.' Android Authority also spotted code strings in the Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 release alerting Pixel 6A users to 'a potential battery overheating issue' and pointing toward a support page at that currently isn't live.
Los Angeles Times
34 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Rubio vowed to revoke Chinese student visas. Trump now says Chinese students are welcome
In a potential pullback after U.S. officials said two weeks ago that they would 'aggressively' revoke visas for Chinese students enrolled at U.S. universities and increase vetting of student visa applicants, President Trump said Wednesday that he had come to an agreement with China on students 'using our colleges and universities.' The president offered no details on the students in the announcement posted to his Truth Social platform as part of a brief outline of a trade deal with China that he said was pending approval by each side. But the decision appeared to relax a clampdown on America's second-largest international student group that has been under increased scrutiny since May 28, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the U.S. would broadly revoke Chinese student visas and target individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or who studied unnamed 'critical fields.' On Wednesday, Trump said that having Chinese students at U.S schools 'has always been good with me!' 'Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me. Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. Relationship is excellent! Thank you for your attention to this matter!' Trump said in his all-caps post. The State Department did not respond to a request for clarification on the visa matter, including the question of whether Rubio's comments still applied. The May policy to aggressively cancel Chinese student visas has roiled higher education nationally and in California. Universities depend on the full tuition fees paid by international students and see Chinese and other foreign students as integral to their academic operations and missions to foster diverse campuses. The May 28 Rubio announcement — and now the potential relaxing of it — has exacerbated growing uncertainty at universities, which have been dealt a barrage of actions under Trump, including grant cancellations, federal investigations into alleged antisemitism and investigations into admissions policies. International students have especially been in the crosshairs. There have been thousands of student visa cancellations over the spring for violations as minor as speeding tickets and attempted deportations of pro-Palestinian college activists who are international students. There is a pause of new student visa application appointments while the State Department increases security vetting procedures, including probing social media profiles for pro-Palestinian language and imagery. Trump's new travel ban, which went into place Monday, has also led some universities to advise incoming students from countries on the list to defer enrollment. Of the 1.1 million foreign students enrolled at U.S. universities, roughly 277,000 are Chinese — second only to Indians. The 51,000 Chinese nationals in California make up more than a third of the state's nearly 141,000 foreign students. The University of California has 17,832 Chinese students across all of its campuses. Locally, USC has nearly 6,000 and UCLA has 2,208. A UC spokesperson declined to comment on Trump's social media post and pointed The Times to the university's prior statement on Chinese student visa restrictions that said it was 'concerned about the U.S. State Department's announcement to revoke visas of Chinese students.' 'Chinese students, as well as all our international students, scholars, faculty and staff, are vital members of our university community and contribute greatly to our research, teaching, patient care and public service mission,' the statement said. A USC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. While there are no data pointing to widespread security concerns over Chinese students and scholars, there have been incidents in recent years. This week, the U.S. said it arrested a Chinese scientist who was arriving in Detroit to pursue research at the University of Michigan. The scientist, from University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, is accused of illegally smuggling biological material related to worms that require a government permit. In an interview, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside), a member of the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce, called the potential Trump shift on Chinese student visas an example of 'TACO,' a phrase some Democrats are using to say 'Trump always chickens out,' reflecting the president's policy shifts. Republicans have argued that the president's shifts are a negotiation strength. 'In allowing Chinese students to come here, it's part of the importance of the United States being a draw for students from everywhere,' Takano said. 'But his overreach, his interference in the operations of universities ... endangers the higher education enterprise of America.' There is also political value to the U.S. in having Chinese students here, experts said. 'For the United States, bringing Chinese students [here] isn't just about educating them in subjects like math and science — it is about educating them in American values, like democracy and freedom of speech,' said Emily Baum, an associate professor of modern Chinese history at UC Irvine. 'And the expectation is that either they will stay in the United States because they enjoy life here or take those values back to China and influence the political system.' It could be that some Chinese students are turned off by the vacillations of the Trump administration and decide to stay in China for university, one expert added. Gaurav Khanna, an associate professor of economics at UC San Diego, said that around the year 2000, China began a major campaign to build new universities. Within about half a decade, it had doubled the number of institutions in the country, he said. 'They invested heavily,' Khanna said. 'In some ways, they are well-suited to say, 'Hey, don't risk your future going to a second-tier American university. Why don't you stay back here in China and go to this really good university where ... there is funding for research?''
