ByteDance’s ‘$19.2bn spend’ would make it the world’s biggest marketer

Alex Brownsell, Celeste Huang

A Wall Street Journal article claimed the TikTok-owner invested heavily in marketing in 2021.

In May’s Global Ad Trends report on Big Tech’s growing share of the post-COVID ad economy, WARC Media observed that the $16.9bn invested by Amazon in advertising in 2021 was likely the largest sum ever spent by an advertiser within a 12-month period in history.

However, new data reported by The Wall Street Journal suggests this amount may have been superseded by ByteDance. The privately-owned, Beijing-based company does not share its results publicly. Citing an internal financial report shared with employees, WSJclaims the TikTok-owner spent $19.2bn on selling and marketing expenses in 2021....

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