• by Colin Kirkland , March 12, 2025

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s insistence that a deal to buy TikTok is coming, the ByteDance-owned social-media platform is losing credibility as a go-to for brand investments, with its CPMs (cost per thousand clicks) dropping 80% year-over-year. 

According to a new report by AdRoll, brands on TikTok have already begun reallocating their advertising dollars to competing social-media platforms as the platform faces uncertainty in the United States.

Analyzing data from over 20,000 online businesses, AdRoll’s findings show a major shift away from TikTok -- a platform advertisers have cherished for its powerful algorithm and young audience. 

In contrast, Pinterest has emerged as a winner, with CPMs surging 120% year-over-year, showcasing brands’ reallocation of budgets to competing platforms with an established user base and social commerce features. 

While Pinterest is in the process of combating an unwanted surge of AI-generated spam, the social platform has successfully reintroduced itself to the market, with high user satisfaction ratings -- especially among younger generations -- as well as artificial intelligence (AI)-powered ad tools and in-app shopping features. 

Prior to The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to pass the bill that will eventually force a sell-off of TikTok or extinction in the region, TikTok was thriving, with its social commerce initiative, TikTok Shop, recording record sales on Black Friday. 

However, during Trump’s ongoing delay of the selloff bill, advertisers have been forced to reevaluate the future of the app and Pinterest is clearly reaping the benefits. 

In its latest performance report, Pinterest hit its first-ever billion-dollar revenue quarter, reached an all-time high in users, reported its biggest holiday shopping season to date and -- as seen in AdRoll’s findings -- grew clicks for advertisers. 

While competition remains high among social-media companies hoping to attract ad dollars from TikTok’s potential downfall, Pinterest is leading the charge. Based on AdRoll’s report, CPMs of other social media platforms such as Meta remain stagnant.