• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, 3 hours ago

Media buyers spent 7% more on Microsoft Advertising paid search ads in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the year-ago quarter, according to data released this week.

While search cost-per-click (CPC) growth has been weak for Google in recent quarters, Microsoft has seen it skyrocket, reaching 19% year-over-year in Q2, Tinuiti reported in its Q2 2026 Benchmark Report, which analyzes ad buys from the clients it supports. 

Microsoft's CPC growth was weak in the year-ago quarter, although Amazon remained active in the company's shopping ads listings.

Amazon’s Sponsored Products in the U.S. stood out in the quarter when compared with five of the largest digital U.S. ad segments, with same-site spending growth rising sharply after the company moved Prime Day from July to June, according to the Tinuiti Q2 2026 Benchmark Report.

Advertisers spent 38% more on Amazon Sponsored Products in the quarter, compared with the year-ago quarter -- nearly double the rate of growth the agency recorded in Q1.

Advertisers also increased investments in Amazon Sponsored Brands ads, where spending growth rose from 3% in Q1 to 20% in Q2, and in Amazon DSP, where spending growth increased from 41% in Q1 to 67% in Q2.

Prime Day fueled media buys in Amazon ads into Prime Video as well, where ad spend rose 48% year-over-year.

Although Amazon did not buy media on Google Shopping to promote Prime Day listings, spend on Google Search still grew nearly 14% year over year in the second quarter, driven by strong shopping ad performance across both Performance Max (PMax) and standard Shopping campaigns.

Ad spend on Google Shopping rose 18% in Q2, with average cost per click (CPC) continuing to flatline since Amazon withdrew from nearly all U.S. Google shopping auctions.

With modest pricing growth on the text ad side, total Google Search ad CPC growth reached a mere 1% in Q2.

YouTube faced stronger spending in Q2, compared with one year ago, but the YouTube ads business also faces pressure from the YouTube subscriptions business.

According to the study, TV remains a bright spot for YouTube ads, accounting for 75% of spending on the video ad platform, while ad spending rose 45% across all campaigns targeting YouTube inventory.

TV even accounted for 60% of video ad spending on the vertical-focused Shorts ads format in Q2.

Spending across other streaming ad platforms outside of YouTube, including major players like Prime Video, Netflix, and HBO Max, was up 14% year over year in Q2, up from 6% growth a quarter earlier. Competitive pricing pressure continues to hold streaming CPM growth in check, though, with CPMs down 2% year over year in the quarter.

Stronger ad prices fueled a rebound in advertiser spend on Facebook, where a 13% increase in CPM offset a 5% decline in impressions and delivered a 7% increase in ad spending, the report explained.

On Instagram, CPMs came in flat, but strong impression growth from Reels led to a 17% increase in spending. Other properties have also introduced newer inventory into the Meta fold, but they are only having a minimal impact on overall Meta trends.

Since their introduction in early 2025, Threads ads have steadily grown over time, but they accounted for just 0.37% of total Meta ad impressions in Q2 2026.

To date, the contribution from WhatsApp ads has been nearly non-existent for most brands.