Social networks are the largest advertising investment channel worldwide, according to WARC Media’s latest Global Advertising Trends report.

WARC forecasts that social media ad spending will reach $247 billion this year, up 14% year-over-year, fueled primarily by the platforms’ investments in AI.

“Much of social media’s success has been driven by Meta’s remarkable renaissance,” WARC Media head of content Alex Brownsell said. “However, with this dominance comes challenges, such as rising advertising loads in social environments, and the impact of AI on media planning.”

Both Facebook and Instagram grew more than 20% year-on-year in this first quarter, and Meta is forecast to earn $155 billion in ad revenue this year, accounting for a 63% share of global social media spending. This is driven by Meta’s Q4 2023 ad load increase of 19.1%, with the majority of Reels sessions now having seven or more ads. According to WARC, Mark Zuckerberg’s company would surpass global linear TV in ad spend terms in 2025.

Tools like Advantage+, which automate aspects of creative and media planning, have increased Meta’s popularity among advertisers. The company also recently announced other AI-based upgrades, such as its free virtual assistant Meta AI, which now works with the latest open source language model called Llama 3.

WARC also forecasts that Pinterest will see a 17.3% year-over-year increase in ad revenue this year, while Snapchat will grow 13%. For its part, Pinterest posted positive results during the first quarter of the year, largely due to its AI-powered tools, including the skin tone ranges, hair pattern recognition and body type technology. The company’s marketing and sales segment saw a growth from $201 million to $226 million in the quarter.

As for TikTok, WARC says that the social network’s growth will slow this year amid its possible ban in the U.S. The platform, which is testing a new photo app called TikTok Notes, is expected to earn $23 billion this year. Last year, it recorded a growth rate of 87%.

And X’s ad revenue problems will continue this year, says WARC. The social network’s advertising revenues are expected to decline by 6.4% worldwide in 2024. However, this represents improvement for the Elon Musk-owned platform, compared to the 46% decline in 2023. Spending on political advertising could help the app increase its earnings this year.