Earned & PaidDoorDash
DoorDash spent $1.60B on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2025, up 23.1% on the year before and +259% since 2019. That's 11.7% of revenue, less than in 2019: the business outgrew its marketing.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue.
What they told investors
“What I would say is customers ultimately do not care about any top of funnel—DoorDash, Inc. included—or any of these agents.”Tony Xu · 2026 Q1 · transcript
“One, you have to deliver the best return on ad spend for advertisers, which we do. Two, you have to deliver the best consumer experience where you do not spam people.”Tony Xu · 2026 Q1 · transcript
“I've always believed the right order to sequence things is to first build a very healthy marketplace, and then the monetization opportunities including ads will follow.”Tony Xu · 2025 Q3 · transcript
Say vs do
We found no statement about the size of DoorDash's marketing budget on its earnings calls or in its 10-Ks, so here is its record against its peers.
What they said
No statement about the size of its marketing budget.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $1.60B | +23.1% | 11.7% |
| FY2024 | $1.30B | 0.0% | 12.1% |
| FY2023 | $1.30B | +18.2% | 15.1% |
| FY2022 | $1.10B | -8.3% | 16.7% |
| FY2021 | $1.20B | +71.9% | 24.6% |
| FY2020 | $698M | +56.5% | 24.2% |
In interviews, its leaders made 320 statements about marketing: 12 argued for investing in brand and 1 for cutting.
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Affiliate & lead gen “But look, I think with respect to how that informs our partnerships with some of these AI systems, I view them as channel partners and we'll see how much traffic they can drive in a very similar way to how companies like Facebook and Google did the same for DoorDash in the past.” Tony Xu on the earnings call · Feb 18, 2026 · source
- Creative campaigns · Retail media “Certainly, in advertising, it's been a two and a half year effort.” Tony Xu on the earnings call · Nov 6, 2023 · source
- Measurement “These changes have, and we expect that these changes will continue to, negatively impact the effectiveness of our advertising and promotions because they will limit our visibility into the performance of specific advertising channels.” 10-Q · May 6, 2022 · source
What they see in the market
What its leaders and filings say about the ad market: its own ad business, or the channels advertisers use, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Retail media “Beyond scaling some of the unlocks in ads, we are also discovering some off-site opportunities you mentioned, which include in-store activities in addition to our work buying on behalf of advertisers off of DoorDash, Inc.” Tony Xu on the earnings call · May 6, 2026 · source
- Creative campaigns · AI in marketing “But one of the biggest agents that actually we've shipped last year was really our Smart Campaigns product in which we are helping restaurants buy on their behalf, always ROI positive ad campaigns effectively.” Tony Xu on the earnings call · Feb 18, 2026 · source
- Measurement “And so, that's what we continue to see where our ads business continues to have leading ROA or return on ad spend for advertisers for restaurants and increasingly for retailers.” Tony Xu on the earnings call · Oct 31, 2024 · source
In the news
- DoorDash anchors Prime Video’s NHL sponsor lineup Campaign Canada · paywall · Sep 29, 2026 · sponsorship
- DoorDash Asks "What's For Hockey" In New Creative Platform Around NHL Sponsorship DoorDash · Sep 29, 2026 · sponsorship
- DoorDash doubles down on WPP, naming agency global media partner Marketing Dive · Sep 28, 2026 · agency move
- DoorDash Announced the Introduction of Brand Center MarTech Cube · Sep 28, 2026 · platforms & adtech
- DoorDash expands sports sponsorship strategy with Stanford Athletics deal SportsMint Media · Sep 28, 2026 · sponsorship
- DoorDash, Round21 To Drop Limited-Edition Collection for the WNBA Postseason slamonline.com · Sep 27, 2026 · sponsorship
- NHL, DoorDash Partner In U.S., Canada MediaPost · Sep 17, 2026 · sponsorship
Agency moves
- DoorDash doubles down on WPP, naming agency global media partner Sep 28, 2026 · won: WPP