Digital Marketing Trends Worldwide: Insights from the Digital 2025 July Report

DataReportal, in partnership with analytical platforms, has prepared the global Digital 2025 July Report, which highlights digital marketing trends worldwide. The report gathers the latest trends in Internet usage, mobile devices, social media, AI, and e-commerce.

In this article, we list the key insights and up-to-date statistics from the global digital market, examining the changing role of search engines, the rise of neural networks, and trends in e-commerce.

Digital Market Worldwide in 2025

As of July 2025, the global population reached 8.23 billion people, with 5.76 billion of them using mobile phones — 70% of the population. This emphasizes the importance of mobile technologies as a key communication and interaction channel with consumers. The growth of mobile device usage is especially noticeable in developing countries, which also influences digital marketing trends worldwide.

UN data confirms the trend towards urbanization, with 58.3% of the population now living in cities.

The online audience has grown to 5.65 billion people — 68.7%. The number of social media users is 5.41 billion. Since July 2024, social platforms have gained 241 million new users.

97.5% of the global population uses smartphones, 57.3% use computers and laptops, and 33% use tablets.

On average, users spend 33 hours 42 minutes online per week. 95.9% access the Internet via mobile phones, and only 60.7% use laptops and computers.

Top 10 Countries with the Most Internet Users:

• China
• India
• USA
• Indonesia
• Brazil
• Russia
• Pakistan
• Mexico
• Nigeria
• Japan

Main Reasons for Using the Internet:

• Searching for information (61.3%)
• Staying connected with friends and family (58.8%)
• Watching videos, TV shows, or movies (55%)
• Keeping up with news and events (53.3%)
• Looking for instructions (50.1%)
• Listening to music (46.5%)
• Finding new ideas and inspiration (46.1%)

Digital Marketing Trends Worldwide

Decline in Search Traffic

According to Statista, in 2024, advertisers worldwide spent over 316 billion USD on search advertising. Search engines remain the primary source of information for new brands, products, and services.

They outperform TV ads, social media promotion, and word-of-mouth marketing. Therefore, marketers need to understand the dynamics of search traffic and incorporate it into their advertising strategies.

Over the last 20 years, search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo have become the starting point for most online actions. This is still largely true today, but the behavior and experience of online search are changing.

More than 4 out of 5 adult Internet users report that they regularly use online search, placing search engines in third place among the most popular online resources globally, after messaging apps and social media.

From March 1 to May 31, 2025, the average monthly visits to the Google.com website amounted to 83 billion, with an average of 3.16 billion unique visitors.

Trends in Digital Marketing Worldwide are shifting, with a recent decline in search traffic.

In early 2021, 84.1% of adult Internet users used a search engine in the last month. By early 2025, this number had dropped to 80.6%.

This is likely related to the rise in popularity of AI. ChatGPT alone attracts over 1 billion visits weekly.

Popularity of AI Worldwide

On average, ChatGPT was visited more than 5 billion times per month in Q2 2025. The flagship OpenAI domain attracted more than 16 billion visits from April to June.

Recent data shows that 22.3% of adult Internet users in the 54 largest economies used ChatGPT in the past month, indicating an active user base of over 700 million users per month.

However, the popularity of ChatGPT varies across the globe. For example, only 4 out of 10 Internet users in Kenya, the UAE, and Israel used ChatGPT in the past month.

As of July 2025, OpenAI confidently leads the rankings in the AI sector, but it is not the only platform gaining traction.

Other popular platforms include:

• Google Gemini
• Deepseek
• Grok
• Microsoft Copilot
• Perplexity
• Claude

Online Video vs TV

People now spend more time watching online video content than TV. This highlights how consumer content consumption behaviors have changed, which in turn affects digital marketing trends worldwide.

Users spend an average of 11 hours 39 minutes per week watching online video content on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, while only 10 hours 15 minutes is spent on TV viewing through broadcast and cable channels.

Short videos, such as those on TikTok, account for a larger portion of online video time than longer formats like vlogs.

Users spend an average of 6 hours 42 minutes per week on Reels, TikTok, and similar platforms, and only 4 hours 57 minutes per week on longer online video content.

E-commerce Market Returns to Pandemic Levels

28.7% of respondents reported ordering products through online shopping platforms in the past week.

Asia leads in food purchases online: more than 4 out of 10 Internet users aged 16+ in Thailand, South Korea, the UAE, and Turkey reported purchasing food online in the last 7 days.

In contrast, online shopping is significantly less popular in Europe. Only in the UK and Greece does weekly usage exceed 20%.

According to statistics, women order food products online significantly more often than men. People from older generations still buy groceries online much less frequently. This is partly because retirees experience less time pressure compared to working parents with young children.

At the same time, people aged 50+ account for more than half of all consumer spending. For brands, this is an opportunity to think about how to attract the elderly audience to e-commerce.

The Role of Programmatic in Digital Marketing in 2025

Digital marketing trends worldwide emphasize the growing importance of mobile advertising for adapting to fast-changing conditions:

• In response to the rise of short online videos, programmatic advertising allows products and services to be promoted through video banners. Brands can use mobile advertising to reach a younger audience, focused on dynamic formats.
• The growth of online shopping volume underscores the importance of promoting products online. In-app promotions introduce users to the brand directly within mobile apps at moments of high engagement, allowing for immediate access to a website for further details.
• Mobile advertising leverages targeting and daily optimization to achieve maximum reach within the target audience. For example, programmatic can optimize banners for those interested in baby food or mountain vacations.

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