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Meta Platforms and Alphabet’s Google received the strongest near-term digital advertising assessments in an Evercore survey of seven advertising agency executives, according to an Investing.com report published October 2, 2026. The executives manage client budgets ranging from more than $10 million to over $3 billion across performance marketing and brand advertising.
The survey points to spending moving toward platforms viewed by advertisers as delivering stronger results, rather than a broad expansion in digital budgets. Amazon, Netflix and Reddit received incrementally positive assessments, while AppLovin and Pinterest drew more cautious views. Snap and The Trade Desk were rated negatively in the small group of executives consulted.
Performance, not a broad budget boom
The survey describes digital advertising as resilient but selective: agency executives said advertisers are favoring platforms with better performance instead of increasing spending across the board. The report does not give a total market-growth estimate, dollar spending figures by platform, or the survey’s timing and methodology beyond the seven executive calls.
That distinction matters when interpreting the findings. The responses reflect the experience and opinions of a limited set of agency executives—not a census of advertisers or a quantified forecast—and the published account does not disclose individual responses or how the views were aggregated.
Search and social platforms draw favorable comments
Google Search was described as performing well, with artificial intelligence and higher query volumes supporting spending. YouTube was cited for premium content and automated buying tools, while Meta was singled out for improving returns and gains in performance-driven advertising share.
The report also noted early signs of potential growth from Meta’s Business Agents feature, but supplied no adoption figures or revenue contribution. The survey’s account therefore presents the feature as an emerging possibility rather than an established material driver of Meta’s advertising business.
Mixed signals among other platforms
Amazon received a modestly positive assessment. Executives cited stabilization in Sponsored Products growth, strength in its demand-side platform and video offerings, and wider adoption by advertisers whose businesses are not directly tied to Amazon’s retail marketplace.
Netflix was viewed as benefiting from demand for premium advertising inventory and improving targeting capabilities, though higher costs per thousand impressions could reduce advertiser returns. Reddit was described as securing more recurring budget allocations through improved targeting and advertiser support, with audience scale still a constraint.
Views were more guarded for several other companies. Executives pointed to slowing spending growth and uneven returns at Pinterest, labor-intensive campaign management at Snap, and inconsistent results and verification gaps at AppLovin. The report said The Trade Desk was losing budgets primarily to Amazon within the limited client sample.
AI advertising remains an early test
The agency executives said ChatGPT was attracting substantial experimentation but had not yet secured much recurring advertising spending. The report attributed that gap to immature tools, limited ad inventory and weak renewal rates, without publishing spending levels or identifying specific advertisers.
The findings offer a snapshot of agency sentiment, not a definitive ranking of platform revenue or market share. Investing.com’s account did not include responses from Meta, Alphabet, Amazon or the other named companies, and it did not specify when Evercore plans to conduct another survey or what developments might change the executives’ assessments.
