TikTok advertising revenue is highly suppressed. Always has been. Not because audiences aren’t on board (they are), but because ad execs aren’t. National security concerns, creative misunderstandings, and presidential cover have kept big brands hesitant to go all in. But things are about to change, and the shift could be massive.
Table of Contents
The Hesitation
TikTok has always had the audience. Users are engaged, scrolling, and ready to buy. But advertisers? They’ve been sitting on the sidelines. The hesitation comes from national security concerns and a general misunderstanding of how the platform works creatively.
Add in some political pressure, and you’ve got big brands playing it safe instead of going all in.
The Prediction
Here’s what’s coming: this new presidential administration will likely bring a moment of TikTok normalization that will basically end that suppressed state of TikTok spend.
When the floodgates of ad dollars open, putting TikTok on a more normal competitive footing with Meta, we’ll see the fastest shift in ad spend ever.
The Numbers
The math tells the story. Meta has 21.5x more ad revenue than TikTok but Meta only has 3x as many users in the US than TikTok. That gap is enormous. When perception of TikTok shifts from risky to normal, ad budgets will follow fast. This is the scenario Meta has wanted to avoid.
The Shift
2025 might just be the year TikTok finally takes a meaningful bite out of Meta’s share, and it won’t be a small one. Once advertisers feel safe, the money will move quickly. The suppressed spending will catch up all at once, creating one of the fastest shifts in advertising history.
Conclusion
TikTok has been ready for advertiser dollars for years. The audience engagement is there, the platform works, but the perception hasn’t caught up. Once that changes, and advertisers see TikTok as a normal part of their media mix instead of a risky bet, the spending will flood in fast.
Meta’s massive revenue advantage isn’t matched by an equally massive user advantage. That imbalance won’t last once TikTok normalizes. The shift could reshape digital advertising faster than anything we’ve seen before.
Keep your eye on TikTok’s ad revenue in 2025—it might be the year everything changes.
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