DoubleVerify (DV), the media effectiveness platform platform, has released its 2025 Global Insights: How Consumers and Marketers Use Walled Gardens report that includes platform-level insights and examines how social media continues to shape digital advertising, news consumption and commerce.

“The appeal of advertising across social media platforms lies in their ability to blend entertainment, community and personalised experiences across both user-generated content and ads,” commented Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. “As advertisers ramp investments across these platforms, they’re also demanding campaign effectiveness and accountability. That’s why maximising media quality, efficiency and performance across video-centric walled gardens remains a top priority for DV — evidenced by our recent innovations like DV Authentic AdVantage. Ultimately, the takeaway from our Global Insights Report is clear: while walled gardens promise scale and performance, sustainable value ultimately depends on transparency and trust.”

For the report, DV surveyed 22,000 consumers across 21 countries to understand how people of all ages engage with these platforms, consume news, interact with influencers, and respond to advertising. DV also surveyed 1,970 marketing and advertising decision-makers worldwide to identify the key challenges and opportunities within walled gardens.

Key Trends across EMEA, including the UK:

• Social Media Adoption & Performance: Social media is a near-universal channel across EMEA, with 90 per cent of advertisers active on social platforms and 87 per cent in the UK. Confidence in performance is strong: 75 per cent of EMEA marketers say social media feeds outperform campaign baselines, increasing to 81 per cent in the UK. Meanwhile, 77 per cent of advertisers in EMEA and 75 per cent in the UK believe reels perform better relative to campaign baselines.

• Brand Suitability & Advertiser Confidence: Despite strong performance, brand suitability concerns remain elevated, with 56 per cent of UK advertisers concerned about placement suitability. However, trust in environments remains high: 84 per cent of EMEA and 85 per cent of UK advertisers consider social media newsfeeds suitable, while social video and reels are viewed as suitable by 84 per cent of advertisers in EMEA and 79 per cent of advertisers in the UK.

• Measurement & Controls: The most valued third-party tools in the UK focus on post-bid media quality measurement (40 per cent), and pre-bid content alignment controls (39 per cent), highlighting the demand for greater transparency, fraud protection, and contextual control as social investment grows.

• Time Spent on Social Media: The UK stands out as most likely to spend more time on social media in the next 12 months, with 22 per cent of consumers believing they will spend more time on social media, signalling continued audience expansion and rising commercial opportunity.

• AI Exposure: UK users report the highest visibility of AI-generated content across social media (54 per cent) and video streaming platforms (24 per cent).

Social sits at the heart of the EMEA digital advertising ecosystem, delivering both strong upper-funnel brand impact and consistent performance uplift. The continued outperformance of feeds and reels demonstrates how video-led, socially native formats are driving measurable value across the region.

However, this growth is mirrored by heightened sensitivity around brand suitability and trust, particularly in the UK, where concern levels exceed the regional average. As confidence in platforms continues to rise, advertisers are increasingly focused on context-aware planning, robust verification, and quality-first optimisation to protect brand reputation while unlocking sustained performance.

In an era of accelerating platform change and rising media complexity, these insights reinforce the importance of trusted environments, verified delivery, and attention-led strategies to drive meaningful impact across EMEA, concluded DV.

Other posts by :

1. EchoStar booms on SpaceX holding
2. Norway wants a satellite constellation
3. Crossroads backs AST SpaceMobile
4. FCC examines SpaceX’s 15,000 sat-constellation plan
5. EchoStar: “Severe uncertainty” led to spectrum sales
6. Netflix gets downgrade on Warner Bros move
7. UK trims Orbex investment
8. Euro-bank sets up €500m space fund
9. Revenue jump forecast for Eutelsat

Categories: Advertising, AI, Articles, Research, Social Media

Tags: advertising, AI, DoubleVerify, dv, social media