Mobile App Insights · Abraham Yousef · January 2025
TikTok's Trump Card: What's at Stake?
One day after stopping service in the US, TikTok was once again available in the US on Sunday Jan. 19th, much to the delight of the app’s 115mn existing domestic users. President Trump’s executive order delayed enforcement of the TikTok ban by 75 days, providing the company more time to pursue a potential deal with a US partner. Despite the reprieve, uncertainty surrounding the app’s future is shaking up the consumer engagement and digital advertising space. Per Sensor Tower data, TikTok in the US drives 88mn hours per day of consumer engagement, ~$2bn of annual consumer spend, and 8% share of the digital ad space. Likely beneficiaries include Meta and Alphabet, but also potentially substitute services like Rednote. Sensor Tower data continues to be the best source to understand this evolving story.
Key Takeaways:
Per ST estimates, US TikTok users spent ~88mn hours/day on the app in 2024, ahead of Instagram and Snap but trailing similar video focused social apps like YouTube and Facebook. Though all platforms are likely to see a bump in engagement upon a ban, Instagram and Snap have the greatest cross app usage with TikTok upon examining user sessions
We also note TikTok brought in ~$1.7bn in US in-app revenue in 2024 (more than Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat combined), and similar services may look to push creator driven monetization strategies around short-form video
Based on trends in India following TikTok’s banning, ST projects that Snap (+89% YoY) may lead its peers in US hours/day growth in 4Q25, followed by Instagram (+40%), X (+32%), Pinterest (+14%) and YouTube (+12%), though YouTube would still boast industry-leading hours/day (225mn) at nearly 2x each of its rivals
TikTok has become a leading digital advertising platform, representing 8% of digital US ad spend share in 2024. Top advertisers on the platform included Walmart, Google and Amazon. Facebook (34%), Instagram (26%), YouTube (19%) and Snap (3%) will likely fill more ads to keep pace with more hours engaged if TikTok is eventually banned
Meta (+4ppts), YouTube (+2ppts) and Snapchat (+2ppts) would likely inherit TikTok’s share of US ad spend
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