In the first quarter of 2026, the number of ad impressions on Meta platforms rose by 17%, whilst advertising budgets increased by 13% year-on-year. Instagram was the main driver, with spending on the platform rising by 28% compared to a modest 4% on Facebook. At the same time, the overall cost per thousand impressions (CPM) across the Meta ecosystem fell by 3%. In this article, we’ll analyse the latest report from Tinuiti, based on anonymised data from US advertising campaigns with annual spend exceeding $4 billion.
Meta Global Trends
In the first quarter of 2026, investment in the Meta ecosystem increased by 13% year-on-year. This is higher than the figure recorded at the end of last year (+9% in Q4 2025).
- Impressions grew by 17% year-on-year.
- CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) fell by 3%. This is the third consecutive quarter in which traffic has become cheaper on average.
For Facebook, the start of the year was quiet.
- Spend increased by just 4%, which is significantly below the average growth across the entire Meta ecosystem.
- The number of impressions rose by 8% — a sharp slowdown compared to 19% in the previous quarter.
- The CPM cost fell by 4% year-on-year.
The share of Facebook Reels placements fell to 25%, down from 29% in Q4 2025 and 31% in Q1 2025.
In Q1 2026, Instagram emerged as the main beneficiary of advertising budgets.
- Spend on the platform grew by 28% year-on-year. This is the best figure since the start of 2024.
- The number of impressions increased by 31%. Such a sharp rise may be linked to the aggressive rollout of video formats, which generate significantly more ad inventory than traditional static content.
- Despite huge demand, the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) fell by 3%.
Distribution of placements on Instagram:
- The share of Reels has risen to 33% of all impressions; in Q1 2025, it was just 19%.
- Stories placements account for 40%, but their share has begun to decline.
- The Feed has fallen to a historic low of 26% of impressions, giving in to video formats.
Advantage+
Advantage+ AI-powered automation tools are showing a decline in usage.
- The share of Advantage+ has fallen to 20% — by comparison, it stood at 38% at the start of 2025.
Advertisers are increasingly opting to combine AI with manual targeting settings. This is driven by a desire to exercise greater control over lead quality and filter out non-target impressions, which fully automated campaigns sometimes generate.
Meta versus the alternatives
Meta continues to dominate in splits, remaining the primary channel for most advertisers.
- TikTok holds a 24% share of budgets allocated to Meta among advertisers using both platforms.
- Reddit, Pinterest, and Snapchat receive between 13% and 15% of Meta’s volume, becoming important platforms for targeting niche interests.
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