Bilibili’s Ad Engine Holds Up, But a ‘Crippled Period’ Tests the Smaller Platform

Advertising proves resilient

Bilibili (哔哩哔哩) is leaning on advertising as a relative bright spot while much of its business endures a tougher cycle. It has been reported that ad demand on the platform has held up better than expected, buoyed by brand campaigns targeting its Gen Z user base and more performance-oriented formats. The company’s long-nurtured creator community and “bullet comment” culture remain a differentiator for advertisers seeking engaged, niche audiences—valuable in a market where attention is costly and fragmented.

But the ‘crippled period’ bites

Huxiu reports the company is navigating a “crippled period” marked by slower traffic growth, weaker contributions from games and value‑added services, and intensified competition for user time. Revenue streams beyond ads—such as live streaming tips, premium memberships, and internally developed games—have come under pressure, reportedly due to tighter consumer spending, a thin hit pipeline, and shifting content costs. The result: even as ads hold, the broader monetization mix is stretched, pressing Bilibili to keep cutting costs and sharpen ROI across content and distribution.

The China platform context

Bilibili remains a “small site” compared with short‑video juggernauts Douyin (抖音) under ByteDance (字节跳动) and Kuaishou (快手), as well as long‑form rivals Tencent Video (腾讯视频) and iQIYI (爱奇艺). Those giants command outsized ad budgets and user time, raising Bilibili’s customer acquisition costs and compressing discovery. Meanwhile, China’s evolving content regulations and game approvals keep platform risk high. Geopolitically, the company—listed in the U.S. and Hong Kong—operates under lingering U.S.–China audit scrutiny, though the 2022 audit access deal eased immediate delisting concerns.

What to watch

Management has prioritized profitability: trimming sales and marketing, dialing back expensive licensed content, and pushing higher‑yield ad products, e‑commerce affiliations, and search. Will that be enough? If macro advertising stabilizes and Bilibili can better convert its core communities into predictable ad and commerce revenue, the current trough may prove cyclical. But if user growth stalls and non‑ad lines fail to reaccelerate, the platform’s scale disadvantage could harden—turning a “crippled period” into a longer strategic bind.