Social Media Advertising Enters a New Era of Complexity
For years, social platforms have promised advertisers both massive scale and precise targeting. That promise is now undergoing serious reevaluation. A comprehensive new global study from DV provides fresh insights into this changing landscape. The research surveyed 22,000 consumers and nearly 2,000 marketers worldwide.
The 2025 DV Global Insights report paints a clear picture of user behavior within walled gardens. It also details how marketers are responding to growing risks. These risks include AI-generated content, ad placement issues, and overall brand suitability. The findings highlight a dual reality that is reshaping digital advertising.
Consumer Time Online Grows, But Behaviors Fragment
Twenty-eight percent of consumers expect to increase their social media usage in the coming year. However, how they spend that time is becoming increasingly splintered. Preferences now vary dramatically based on age and gender.
- Younger audiences strongly gravitate toward fast-paced, creator-driven environments.
- Older audiences show a clear preference for familiar, informational formats.
- Men tend to favor video-heavy content, while women lean toward interactive, community-led spaces.
These patterns intensify across different regions. The Asia-Pacific region, which includes India, displays some of the most diverse consumption habits. Audiences there are spread across multiple formats. For advertisers, this means potential reach remains high, but achieving consistent messaging is becoming much harder.
Social Platforms Become Primary News Sources
A major shift is underway in how people consume news. Younger audiences now turn first to social platforms or video sites for updates. Over 40% cite social media as their top news source.
In sharp contrast, consumers aged 45 to 65 and older still rely heavily on traditional TV news. This reliance rises from 38% among those aged 35 to 44 to a significant 71% among those aged 65 and above. News websites remain relevant but do not surpass social media or television in popularity.
This dual news ecosystem widens context risk for advertisers. Ads appearing next to fast-moving, unverified news content may inadvertently inherit bias or negative sentiment shifts.
Influencers Power the Social Commerce Boom
Social commerce continues its rapid global growth. Thirty percent of consumers worldwide have bought directly through a social platform in the past year. APAC leads this shift, with 40% of consumers engaging in social commerce.
This trend is driven by mobile-first habits and content-led discovery in countries like India. Social platforms increasingly serve as sources of inspiration and direct purchase channels, blurring the line between browsing and buying. A striking 49% of Indian consumers are now making purchases on these platforms.
This commerce rise is strongly linked to creators and influencers. Fifty-four percent of consumers say influencers impact their purchasing decisions. Thirty-one percent say the impact is significant, and 23% have bought something directly because of an influencer recommendation. APAC shows some of the strongest influencer effect levels globally.
Consumers engage most with micro- and macro-influencers. This reinforces a clear truth for today's walled gardens: relevance and authenticity drive conversion more effectively than sheer follower count.
AI-Generated Content Raises Brand Suitability Risks
A critical finding reveals that 57% of consumers say they have seen AI-generated content on social media. As AI accelerates content volume, the risks of misalignment rise, especially within fast-moving feeds.
Content adjacency effects remain powerful. Positive adjacency includes lifestyle, educational, and music content. Negative adjacency often involves horror, reality TV, and gaming contexts. The surrounding context matters more than ever, particularly in AI-dense environments.
Ad Placement Remains a Major Hurdle for Marketers
Consumers broadly accept ads on social platforms. Seventy-six percent say they are comfortable seeing them, while 24% are not. However, placement still critically shapes perception.
When an ad appears next to content consumers consider unsuitable, concern increases sharply. The share of people calling the situation "unsuitable" rises from 24% to 32%. Whether the content is user-generated, algorithmically surfaced, or AI-created, adjacency continues to influence how consumers perceive the associated brand.
This sensitivity connects directly to marketers' biggest challenge: reaching the right audience in the right context. Forty-six percent say their target audience still feels "just out of reach." Others struggle with rapid trend shifts, cross-channel management, ROAS/ROI measurement, and suitability pressures. These challenges intensify within larger, more regulated organisations.
Effective reach now depends not just on scale but on ensuring the advertising environment strengthens, rather than compromises, the brand's image.
Marketer Confidence Rises, Hinged on Verification
Marketers' confidence in walled-garden advertising is rising, but the report makes it clear that verification is now essential for success. Fifty-one percent prioritise audience targeting and verification. Forty-eight percent rely on post-bid media-quality checks, and 42% depend on pre-bid content alignment controls.
With AI-driven content and fragmented behavior reshaping feeds, independent verification provides the neutral view needed for safe and effective planning. APAC marketers are moving beyond platform self-reporting. They are increasingly turning to independent measurement partners to reduce ambiguity and manage suitability risks.
More than half of APAC marketers now use third-party tools for audience targeting, verification, content alignment, and media quality assessment.
Priorities for 2026 are coming into sharp focus:
- Contextual intelligence is becoming essential.
- Strategies must accurately reflect demographic behavior.
- Verification tools are now non-negotiable.
- Social commerce investment will continue to grow.
- Influencer marketing requires greater relevance and precision.
These shifts signal a new phase of digital maturity. This phase is led by a stronger emphasis on transparency, rigorous measurement, and environment-aware planning.
The Path Forward for Digital Advertising
Walled gardens are more powerful and more complex than ever before. Consumers are spending more time on social media. They are also consuming news, shopping, and engaging with creators all within these same platforms. However, risks are rising in parallel.
These risks are driven by AI-generated content, growing suitability concerns, and increasingly fragmented user behaviors. For marketers seeking clarity, the path forward is becoming clear. They must use independent measurement, prioritise brand suitability, and align strategies with demographic reality.
DV's report demonstrates that transparency, verification, and contextual intelligence will define the next stage of digital advertising maturity. If the industry navigates these walled gardens with sharper tools and better data, today's complexity can indeed become tomorrow's competitive advantage.
