Pick an Agency · Insights · CHART · Sep 2026
Newest vs Oldest Marketing Agency Services in 2026: Meta Ads Skews Young, Email Marketing Skews Old
A 2026 data study of agency founding years by service: Meta Ads leads with 73% of agencies founded since 2018.
73% of the 93 agencies offering Meta Ads were founded since 2018, versus just 32% of the 68 agencies offering Mobile & App Marketing.
Across 15 services tracked in the directory, average founding year and the share of agencies started since 2018 vary widely. Newer digital-ad formats cluster with younger agencies, while long-standing marketing disciplines skew toward older, established shops.
The newest services
Meta Ads tops the list: 73% of its 93 listed agencies were founded since 2018, with an average founding year of 2019. TikTok Ads follows at 69% since 2018 (n=54, avg 2019), and Google Ads at 68% (n=211, avg 2019). Display Ads (68%, n=76) and LinkedIn Ads (67%, n=85) round out the group with average founding years of 2018.
These platform-specific ad services are the closest thing to a founder's market in this dataset, all clustering around 2018-2019 average founding years.
The large, established core
The biggest categories by volume skew slightly older. Digital Marketing (n=13,605) averages a 2017 founding year with 59% of agencies since 2018. Advertising (n=9,611) and Media Buying (n=3,518) both average 2016, with 56% founded since 2018. Social Media Marketing (n=3,770) sits at 2017 and 56%.
These are the market's backbone services: large sample sizes, moderate but not leading new-agency share.
The oldest-skewing services
Mobile & App Marketing has the lowest new-agency share at 32% since 2018, with an average founding year of 2015 (n=68). Email Marketing is close behind at 38% since 2018, averaging 2014 (n=316), the oldest average founding year in the dataset. Ecommerce Marketing sits between the two at 41% since 2018, averaging 2015 (n=147).
The 41-point gap between Meta Ads (73%) and Mobile & App Marketing (32%) is the widest spread in the data.
The data
| service | n | avg_founded | pct_since_2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads | 93 | 2019 | 73 |
| TikTok Ads | 54 | 2019 | 69 |
| Google Ads | 211 | 2019 | 68 |
| Facebook Ads | 69 | 2018 | 62 |
| Display Ads | 76 | 2018 | 68 |
| Instagram Ads | 59 | 2018 | 61 |
| LinkedIn Ads | 85 | 2018 | 67 |
| Performance Marketing | 191 | 2017 | 57 |
| Digital Marketing | 13605 | 2017 | 59 |
| Social Media Marketing | 3770 | 2017 | 56 |
| Media Buying | 3518 | 2016 | 56 |
| Advertising | 9611 | 2016 | 56 |
| Ecommerce Marketing | 147 | 2015 | 41 |
| Mobile & App Marketing | 68 | 2015 | 32 |
| Email Marketing | 316 | 2014 | 38 |
Methodology
Figures are computed live from directory listings, matching each agency's self-reported founding year to the services it offers; sample sizes range from n=54 (TikTok Ads) to n=13,605 (Digital Marketing).
- Smaller-sample services like TikTok Ads (n=54) and Mobile & App Marketing (n=68) carry more statistical noise than large categories like Digital Marketing (n=13,605).
- Founding years are self-reported by agencies and only reflect currently active listings, which can understate older agencies that have closed.
Free to cite with a link to Pick an Agency. Methodology details: /methodology.
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