TikTok is expected to increase its net U.S. ad revenue by 184% this year, or $5.96 billion, according to a recent report from research firm Insider Intelligence.
As Reuters wrote Monday (April 11), the report also predicted that ad revenues for the video-sharing app — owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance — will drop to a double-digital growth trajectory beginning in 2023 and top $11 billion by the following year.
Related: TikTok Reaches 1B Monthly User Milestone
Meanwhile, Insider Intelligence also said the the report shows TikTok “gaining on some more-established digital ad sellers.”
This year, the platform will take in 2.4% of the nearly $250 billion companies spend on digital advertising in the U.S. That’s just a percentage point behind YouTube and more than what Snapchat and Twitter will get from ads combined.
Last week, Elon Musk, Twitter’s new biggest shareholder, called for several changes to the Twitter Blue premium subscription service, including banning ads. Musk just recently took a 9.2% stake in Twitter and was offered a seat on the board of directors, which he has since apparently turned down.
Read more: Musk on Twitter Blue: Cut Price, Ban Ads, Allow Dogecoin Payments
The Insider Intelligence report also noted that TikTok’s protected earnings pale in comparison to Google and Meta, which this year will carve up a respective 28.2% and 22.3% of the American digital ad market.
Last year, TikTok reached 1 billion active monthly users, a 45% increase from mid-2020, although the company did not say where its 1 billion-plus users live, how much they view when visiting the site, or share any information regarding age, ethnicity or other user demographics.
Earlier this year, ByteDance also launched an app in China that lets users explore and interact in a virtual community — one that the company said has “nothing to do with the metaverse.”
See also: ByteDance Launches Non-Metaverse Virtual World
The app — called Paiduidao, or “party island” — nonetheless has functions that fit the accepted definition of a metaverse, in that it is a 3D, interactive, virtual world.