Friday 5: Malicious advertising, CMO close-ups, and the cost of social silence

A lot happens in a week, so every Friday we're going to analyze all the new data and provide you with some of the key takeaways. Welcome to the Friday 5.

This week, consumers fear online ads, explore Linkedin formats, and maintain their Apple affinity.

Key stat: Consumers have concerns about online ads. Over 70% of users now perceive at least half of online ads as untrustworthy, according to GeoEdge’s 2024 Ad Quality Report.

• This mistrust is driven by a 10% YoY increase in malicious advertising levels in 2024. Auto-redirects accounted for the most malvertising attacks (45%), followed by misleading product offers (20%), according to the report.
• The US malicious advertising rate showed slight improvement in 2024, with malicious ads declining from 1:120 impressions in 2023 to 1:160, according to the report.

Key stat: The C-suite is embracing LinkedIn as a video tool. Video posts from CMOs on LinkedIn have grown 13% YoY globally and seen 20% more engagement compared to last year, the platform reports.

• Video on LinkedIn is being watched 36% more YoY, with video creation growing at two times the rate of other original post formats, according to the platform.
• Common Linkedin video users include Verizon CMO Leslie Berland and Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder, and posts from CEOs reportedly jumped 23% YoY in 2024.

Key stat: Unresponsiveness from brands is more than a temporary annoyance for consumers—it is often a dealbreaker, according to a 2025 Sprout Social study. 73% of consumers say they'll buy from a competitor if a brand doesn't respond to a customer service request on social.

• 93% of consumers believe it's important for brands to keep up with online culture, and 81% say social drives them to make impulse purchases, emphasizing the value of social media throughout the consumer journey, according to the Sprout Social study.

Key stat: US Black audiences spend more time with media and are more engaged than the total population, according to a 2025 Nielsen report. Black adults in the US spend 32 hours on apps and websites on their smartphones and tablets—two hours more than the total US population, the study found.

• Beyond time spent, 63% of Black adults are more likely to evaluate a new brand based on social media ads or content, compared with 58% overall, according to the report.
• 73% of Black podcast listeners were able to recall a brand name after ad exposure, compared to 70% overall, according to the report.

Key stat: Apple is the most valuable brand in the world, with a value of $574.5 billion, according to Brand Finance's 2025 ranking of the most valuable global brands.

• Microsoft ranks second with a value of $461.1 billion, and Google follows at $413.0 billion
• Apple also topped Brand Keys’ 2024 list of the top brands that consumers are most loyal to, and Domino’s Pizza is the non-tech giant standout at number 4.

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