Display Ad Is Flat. Engagement Is at Record Highs. Here's What Replaces the Model
TL;DR: The audience has never been more engaged, and the dominant monetisation model captures less of that engagement every year. Global CTR collapsed from 2.1% in 2000 to 0.35% in 2025. 86% of users experience banner blindness. Ad blockers cost publishers $54 billion annually. Meanwhile time spent on platforms, session intensity, and active participation are at record highs across 5.56 billion global users. The ad market is quietly bifurcating: formats that price some signal of user state (engaged viewing, purchase intent, query intent) are compounding, while flat-impression formats are in structural decline. Social prediction markets add a fourth signal to the list: conviction. On Kash, that signal gets a transaction layer dropped directly into the social feed, scaling revenue with how much users care and returning 30% of fees to the partner platform.
The Disconnect in the Data
There are 5.56 billion social media users globally. Average time on platform is up. Session intensity is up. Active participation — likes, replies, reposts — is up.
And yet, on a per-impression basis, every monetisation lever publishers and platforms have been pulling for two decades is delivering less.
FAQ
Is ad revenue still growing?
Total ad revenue is up — but the growth is concentrated in formats that price a signal (search, retail media, CTV). Display CPMs and CTRs continue to decline.