Temu dramatically reduced and then eventually stopped spending on Google Shopping ads between April 9th and 12th, according to data from Tinuiti. The Chinese marketplace has also pulled back from buying ads on Facebook and Instagram as well.
- In early April, Temu had over 60,000 active image, text, and video ads on Google, according to the company's ad transparency tool.
- As of Wednesday, that number had fallen to just six ads globally.
- Ad transparency data from Meta show that as of Tuesday, Temu had just four active ads on Facebook and Instagram in the US, but was continuing to spend in other countries. Meta represented 68% of its American media budget, down from 76% in 2024 and 2023, when Temu was estimated to have spent around $3B globally.
- Temu showed a total of 22,000 active ads globally, including 2,800 running in Turkey and 1,100 in Canada.
- Downloads of Temu's iPhone app have also fallen in the US over the past week, falling from one of the top 5 most popular free iPhone apps in the US to 67th place.
Shein is following a similar pattern, having cut its digital ad spend across all US platforms.
- Shein's daily average US ad spend on Meta, TikTok, Google, and Pinterest fell a collective average of 19% during the first two weeks of April.
- Downloads of Shein's app have also tanked, dropping from #12 most popular free apps down to 73rd place.
Neither company have publicly made statements explaining their decisions to decrease ad spend, but both have made it clear that they plan to change their strategies due to global trade disruptions.
Does their reduction in ad spend help other retailers?
Potentially. Digiday notes that “a noisy competitor for audience eyeballs and dollars has disappeared, leaving one less threat to worry about,” and that their “exits from the market could slow the rise of cost-per-thousand rates or even cause them to drop.”
For those of you who manage ad spend on Meta and Google — have you noticed a difference in your CPM or CPC since Temu and Shein backed off? Hit reply and let me know.