EarnOS · research exhibit
01 · The number · snapshot 23 Jul 2026

One person. Seven platforms.
What are they worth?

$1,100per year

The annual advertising value of a typical North American who uses all seven platforms below. Not a guess: a stack of reported ARPU and segment revenue. ARPU: average revenue per user. Data vintage 2024 to 2025.

G
a
f
02 · The stack

Seven platforms. One wallet.

Each platform earns its per-user figure independently. Use all seven and the values add. Google Search does the heaviest lifting: it monetises intent at the moment of purchase.

Google Search Instagram Amazon Facebook TikTok Apple YouTube
stacks to ~$1,100 / yr
G
Google SearchDerived
US revenue of $80 to 85B inside a $198.1B global segment, divided across ~270M US users. The single largest line: search is intent.
$290/ user / yr
InstagramEstimated · eMarketer
Now over half of Meta's US ad revenue. Passed Facebook on per-user value back in 2019 and never looked back.
$223/ user / yr
a
AmazonDerived
A $56.2B ad business in 2024, up 18% in a year. Already the third-largest digital ad platform on earth.
$220/ user / yr
f
FacebookEstimated · eMarketer
Still $191 per US user on a shrinking share of Meta's mix. Meta's reported US and Canada family ARPU: ~$233, four times the world average.
$191/ user / yr
TikTokEstimated · eMarketer
The US delivers 41% of TikTok's ad revenue from 10% of its users. Regulatory risk means this line could reallocate, not disappear.
$109/ user / yr
AppleDerived
A $6.47B US ad business in 2024, forecast $7.42B in 2025. Small, growing, and the least certain figure on this page.
$45/ user / yr
YouTubeDerived
$8.29B of US ad revenue spread across 241.8M viewers. The reach is enormous: the per-viewer take is not.
$34/ user / yr
03 · The range

Floor, typical, ceiling.

One point estimate would be dishonest. The inputs carry real uncertainty, and the value of a person is not evenly distributed. So: a range.

Floor
$700

Light usage, blended rates, conservative inputs. The number nobody argues with: it matches Proton's 2025 estimate of what a US user's data is worth.

Typical
$1,100

All seven platforms at current US figures. The headline. Built on reported Meta ARPU plus Alphabet and Amazon segment revenue.

Ceiling
$2,630

Heavy usage in rich categories: finance, insurance, legal. Worth 2.5 to 3.5x the average. Top-decile stacks push past $3,000.

$700 $1,100 $2,630+
$0$1,000$2,000$3,000
04 · The skew

The ceiling is a category effect.

Advertisers do not pay one price for attention. On Meta, insurance and legal impressions clear well above the all-industry average, and finance or legal clicks cost 10 to 50x retail. Same person, richer intent: the value multiplies.

All industries$14.19 CPM
Insurance$21.40 CPM
Legal$20.85 CPM
High-intent user2.5–3.5x avg

CPM: cost per thousand ad impressions. Meta Ads benchmarks, 2026 vintage; the all-industry average rose 20% in a year.

05 · The proof

Three checks. Same direction.

Meta reports it Reported

$233 vs $56.73

Meta's own US and Canada ARPU for 2024 against its worldwide average. North Americans are worth 4x the global user. The premium is real and disclosed.

Proton agrees on the floor Independent

$700+

Proton's 2025 study puts a US user's annual data value at "at least $700", up from ~$240 in 2022. Our floor: the same number.

Older studies ran low Independent

~$263

Datapods' estimate covered one or two platforms on older data. Stacking seven with current US figures is the difference between $263 and $1,100.

06 · The method

Where every number comes from.

Three evidence grades. Every figure on this page carries one.

Reported

Straight from company filings: Meta ARPU, Alphabet and Amazon segment revenue.

Derived

Reported revenue divided by a US user base. Method shown, inputs disclosed.

Estimated

Third-party per-user figures, chiefly eMarketer, where companies do not split it out.

Per-platform range table
PlatformFloorTypicalCeiling
Google Search$180$290$700
Instagram$150$223$500
Amazon$120$220$600
Facebook$130$191$450
TikTok$70$109$200
Apple$30$45$90
YouTube$25$34$90
Stacked total~$700~$1,100$2,630+

Columns sum to $705 and $1,112 before rounding. All figures annual, USD, per North American user.

Caveats, stated plainly

The stack assumes one person on all seven platforms, each earning its full per-user figure independently. It measures total ad revenue, not unique economic value.

Only Meta reports US and Canada ARPU directly. Google, YouTube, TikTok, Amazon and Apple figures are derived or estimated, and are sensitive to the assumed user base.

eMarketer figures are net of traffic acquisition costs; company filings are gross. Mixing them introduces minor inconsistency.

Apple and TikTok are the least certain lines. 2025 and 2026 figures are forecasts, not actuals.

Canada monetises below the US. A US-only user sits above these blended averages; a Canada-only user sits below.

The point

Brands already pay ~$1,100 a year for one person's attention.
The person captures $0.