Temu slashes U.S. ad spending, plummets in App Store rankings after Trump China tariffs
In just 17 days after launch, Temu surpassed Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Shein on the Apple App Store in the U.S., according to Apptopia data shared with CNBC.
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Chinese online retailer Temu, whose “Shop like a billionaire” marketing campaign made its way to last year’s Super Bowl, has dramatically slashed its online ad spending in the U.S. and seen its ranking in Apple’s App Store plunge following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on trade partners.
Temu, which is owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, had been on an online advertising blitz in recent years in a bid to attract deal-hungry American shoppers to its site. With hefty spending on TV ads as well across Facebook, the company promoted clothing, jewelry, home goods and electronics at bargain basement prices.
The strategy was so effective that Temu topped Apple’s list of the most downloaded free apps in the U.S. for the past two years. Downloads of Temu on Apple’s App Store have fallen 62% in recent days, according to data from SimilarWeb, a digital data and analytics company. Ads for 50-cent eyebrow trimmers and $5 t-shirts that used to blanket Google search results and Facebook feeds have all but disappeared.
President Trump’s tariffs have upended Temu’s business model, along with its advertising strategy. Packages shipped from China are now subject to a tariff rate of 145%, while the de minimis provision, which allows shipments worth less than $800 to enter the country duty-free, is set to go away on May 2.
Temu and Shein, a fast-fashion marketplace with ties to China, plan to raise their prices in response to the tariffs. Both companies posted notices to their websites in recent days that warned they’ll be raising prices late next week.
“Due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs, our operating expenses have gone up,” Temu said on its site. “To keep offering the products you love without compromising on quality, we will be making price adjustments starting April 25, 2025.”
Sellers on Amazon’s third-party marketplace, many of whom source their products from China, have said they’re considering raising prices as they reckon with higher costs from the tariffs. Many businesses on TikTok Shop, the social media app’s marketplace, also count on Chinese manufacturers for their items.
Amazon launched a competitor to Temu last November, called Amazon Haul, which features items under $20 that are largely from China.
The Temu app is now No. 69 in a list of the top free apps in the U.S., after consistently ranking in the top 10, according to data from Sensor Tower. Shein is currently at 42, down from 15 last month. PDD’s shares that trade in the U.S. have plummeted 22% this month, compared to the Nasdaq’s 6% drop. Shein is privately held.
Rival Chinese retailers have subsequently risen to the top of the app store ranks, including Beijing-based wholesaler DHgate, which surged to the No. 2 top free iPhone app in the U.S., and Alibaba‘s Taobao, which ranked No. 7. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that viral videos promoting their cheap products have spurred the download frenzy.
A separate analysis by SimilarWeb showed Temu’s paid traffic, or search, display and social media advertising that drove visits to its website, has dropped 77% since April 11. Temu’s paid traffic previously outpaced nonpaid traffic to its website by 2 1/2 times, Ben Parkes, a consumer goods and retail analyst at Similarweb, said in an interview.
Marketing firm Tinuiti found that 20% of U.S. Google Shopping ad impressions were bought by Temu on April 5. A week later, that number had fallen to zero. By comparison, Shein’s impressions remained at 17% on April 12, while 60% of impressions were bought by Amazon.
Representatives from Temu and Shein didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Temu was previously one of Meta’s largest advertisers, but it appears to have dramatically scaled back its spending on the platform. As of Wednesday, Temu is running six ads across Meta platforms in the U.S., a review of Meta’s ad library shows. Temu is running approximately 27,000 ads across Meta sites and apps globally, particularly in Europe and the U.K.
That could be troublesome for Meta’s advertising business, which has gotten a significant boost from the discount retailer. Advertising analyst Brian Wieser at Madison and Wall estimated that more than $7 billion of Meta’s $132 billion in ad revenue in 2023 came from China. Meta is scheduled to report first-quarter results on April 30.
E-commerce analyst Juozas Kaziukenas said he expects Temu to turn its ads back on in the U.S. at some point, but that the company appears to be shifting its dollars to other markets in the interim.
“It doesn’t mean Temu usage has dropped as significantly as the app did,” Kaziukenas said in an email. “But it means that new user acquisition is gone.”
WATCH: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says sellers will pass cost of tariffs on to consumers
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 09, 2025 in Cupertino, California.
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Apple shares popped 5% Wednesday, ahead of an Oval Office event touting an update to the company’s stated plans to spend and invest in the U.S.
CEO Tim Cook will join President Donald Trump for the announcement set for 4:30 p.m. ET.
Apple will up its previous commitment, made in February, from $500 billion to $600 billion over the next four years, a White House official told CNBC.
It will also announce a new manufacturing program called the American Manufacturing Program, the official said.
Cook has had a mixed relationship with Trump over the past year. While Trump has praised the Apple CEO in the past, in recent months he has said he has a “problem” with the executive and has pushed for Apple to assemble its iPhones in the U.S., not China or India.
Apple faces over $1 billion in increased costs this quarter because of Trump’s tariffs on imports —primarily related to China — and Cook reminded investors last week that “the vast majority” of its products would be subject to pending new tariffs under a Section 232 investigation.
“We obviously try to optimize our supply chain, and ultimately we will do more in the United States,” Cook said.
Apple YTD stock chart.
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Match Group shares popped more than 10% on Wednesday after the online dating company issued upbeat guidance and said new products are showing promise as it attempts to turnaround its business.
The Dallas-based company said it expected revenues between $910 million and $920 million in the current quarter, beating a $890 million estimate from analysts polled by FactSet.
“We are operating like a company that is just getting started, and we believe the best chapters of the category and company are still ahead,” said CEO Spencer Rascoff during an earnings call Tuesday. “We are moving with urgency, we are obsessed with the product and we are building for the long term.”
Over the last year, Match and the broader online dating industry have grappled with slowing user engagement. The company has added more tools and features to its apps, including Tinder and Hinge, to lure back customers, especially Gen Z.
Match has also been the target of activists investors such as Starboard Value, which has pushed the company to innovate, cut costs and improve profitability or consider going private.
In an effort to revamp its business, Match appointed Zillow co-founder Rascoff as its new CEO in February. Under his direction, the company has implemented new artificial intelligence-powered tools and slashed roles.
Match also added new features such as AI-powered discovery to many of its services and a double date feature on Tinder. Rascoff on Tuesday said that 90% or customers using this feature are under age 30.
The company will also target the younger market with features geared toward college students and is planning to reinvest $50 million into new product development, Rascoff said.
In 2026 and 2027, Rascoff said he expects AI innovation and international growth to expand its Hinge platform’s leadership as Tinder becomes a “low-pressure, serendipitous experience designed for Gen Z.” Hinge, he said, is also on track to deliver quarterly year-over-year growth in 2025.
“Across the board, we believe the category will enter a new era, with renewed trust, strong demand and long-term growth potential,” he said.
Match posted in-line earnings of 49 cents per share. Revenues reached $864, topping the $854 million expected by analysts.
WATCH: Is Gen Z done with dating apps? Grindr CEO on generational trends
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the US Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ “Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference” at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2025.
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OpenAI on Wednesday announced it will offer its ChatGPT Enterprise product to U.S. federal agencies for $1 through the next year, making its technology available to the federal executive branch workforce at “essentially no cost.”
The company has been working to deepen its ties to lawmakers and regulators in recent months, and it will open its first office in Washington, D.C., early next year.
OpenAI said participating agencies will get access to its frontier models through ChatGPT Enterprise, and it will also offer access to features like Advanced Voice Mode for an additional 60-day period.
The company has partnered with the U.S. General Services Administration to launch the initiative.
“Helping government work better – making services faster, easier, and more reliable—is a key way to bring the benefits of AI to everyone,” OpenAI said in a blog post.
In June, OpenAI launched a new offering called OpenAI for Government and said it was awarded a contract of up to $200 million by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The company is currently engaging in talks with investors about a potential stock sale at a valuation of roughly $500 billion, as CNBC previously reported.
OpenAI announced a $40 billion funding round in March at a $300 billion valuation, by far the largest amount ever raised by a private tech company.
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