Silicon Valley forced to become copycats as TikTok set to triple ad revenue to £8.4bn

Chinese powerhouse TikTok is on track to dwarf US rivals this year, with advertising revenue set to triple to more than $11bn (£8.4bn)

Not only does this beat the combined sales of both Twitter and Snap, who are expected to generate $5.58bn (£4.28bn) and $4.86bn (£3.73bn) respectively according to Insider Intelligence, but it also shows the sheer momentum behind the ByteDance-owned firm.

To add insult to injury, more than half of this year’s ad revenue is expected to come from within the United States.

This comes despite stateside attempts to chip away at emerging Chinese tech, including the ban of telecoms giant Huawei, as well as more recent revelations of a Meta-funded TikTok smear marketing campaign.

TikTok’s growth is largely driven by its huge youth following, and high-earning influencers. Data from Enders Analysis suggested 18-24s spent 20 per cent more time on TikTok than on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp combined.

Aside from launching attacks, US rivals are also playing their hands at becoming copycats. 

“The larger platforms like Meta are scrambling to catch up with the TikTok offering. Products like Facebook Reels are a real copycat product, ” Enders Analysis tech analyst Niahm Burns told City A.M.

Calling TikTok “the platform of the moment”, she explained the real challenge for social media players is being able to monetise on this redirected ad spend on this notoriously difficult short-form video form.

This was echoed by tech analyst and ex Apple director Michael Gartenberg, who told City A.M.: “Given Gen Z’s fascination with TikTok, many of whom left Snapchat or Twitter in search of the next “cool thing” that previous generations have adopted, it’s not a surprise.

“As an older cohort has now seen the impact of short form videos, it’s not a surprise to see that this is arguably the most important social media platform. For now…”