In terms of digital advertising income, Meta is about to overtake Google for the first time

By the end of 2026, Meta Platforms is predicted to overtake Google in worldwide digital advertising revenue, overthrowing the search engine behemoth in this lucrative market, according to eMarketer.

According to the market research agency, the global net advertising revenue of the Instagram owner is anticipated to reach $243.46 billion in 2026, exceeding Google’s forecast $239.54 billion.

Advertisers have embraced Meta’s automated advertising technology, Advantage+, because it makes campaign setup easier and increases return on marketing expenditure.

Google’s diverse business portfolio may make it challenging for the corporation to overtake Meta in terms of advertising revenue, even though it has other growth opportunities like YouTube Premium subscriptions.

After introducing advertisements on WhatsApp and Threads, the social media behemoth increased competition in the advertising business by going up against companies like Elon Musk’s X. In the profitable short-form video industry, Instagram Reels is still up against TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Google, Meta, and Amazon are expected to account for 62.3% of worldwide digital advertising spending in 2026, according to eMarketer.

The forecast, which was created prior to the recent court decisions against Meta and YouTube, is not anticipated to be substantially affected, the research group continued.