40%
of the 1,204 advertisers had stopped: no new ad in the last 90 days, and no impressions where LinkedIn shows them
That's 487 companies. Counting the 76 we couldn't call either way, it could be 47%.
The Off-Pace Report
Every quarter we check thousands of UK B2B companies against LinkedIn's public Ad Library and their own websites, and count who starts, who gives up and how they set up their ads.
PacedRevenue's Off-Pace Report is a quarterly count of how UK B2B companies set up their LinkedIn ads and how many advertisers give up on LinkedIn, and it provides an outside-in perspective on the common mistakes they make. The October 2026 edition focuses on small to medium-sized enterprises with 21 to 100 staff, as of the date of publication. Data comes from LinkedIn's public Ad Library. Methodology and reporting are PacedRevenue's.
October 2026 in three numbers.
53%
of those ran fewer ads in a year than LinkedIn recommends for one campaign
257 of 487 ran three or fewer, against LinkedIn's four or five a campaign.
26%
of active advertisers had no LinkedIn Insight Tag on their website
152 of the 580 whose websites could be tested.
What this report tracks
- 1Advertisers
- How many companies ran LinkedIn ads in the past year.
- 2New advertisers
- How many ran their first ad in the last 90 days, and the change since the last issue.
- 3Stopped
- How many ran no new ad and had no impressions in the last 90 days, and the change since the last issue.
- 4How long they lasted
- How long the companies that stopped kept going, and how many ads they ran first.
- 5Stale ads
- How many live advertisers are still running an ad first shown more than six months ago.
- 6No tracking tag
- How many have no LinkedIn Insight Tag on their website, among new advertisers, those still advertising and those that stopped.
- 7No audience list
- How many never aimed an ad at, or away from, a list of their own: target companies, contacts or site visitors.
- 8Size, agency and format
- How the same figures differ by company size, by whether an agency runs the account, and by the ad formats used.
Questions about the report.
Read the October 2026 issue
Who stopped and how fast, the gaps we found and how to fix them, and every industry by status.
Read the issueWhat is The Off-Pace Report?
The Off-Pace Report is a quarterly count of how UK B2B companies with 21 to 100 staff set up their LinkedIn ads and how many give up. Each issue checks the same companies against LinkedIn's public Ad Library and their own websites, and publishes how many advertise, how many started and stopped in the last 90 days, how many have no tracking tag and how many never used an audience list.
Which companies are in The Off-Pace Report?
The Off-Pace Report covers UK B2B companies with 21 to 100 staff that sell mainly to other businesses, with the UK as a core market, and that weren't hiring for paid media. The October 2026 issue checked 5,598 of them. Agencies, recruiters, charities, public bodies and investors are left out.
How often is The Off-Pace Report published?
The Off-Pace Report is published every quarter. The next issue is due on 25 January 2027.
Where does The Off-Pace Report's data come from?
The companies are drawn from Apollo's company database by headcount, so every share describes our sample. The advertising figures are PacedRevenue's analysis of LinkedIn's public Ad Library, the tracking-tag figures come from checking each advertiser's website, and industry comes from Companies House. No member data is used and no company is named. The methodology sets out every step.
Are LinkedIn ads worth it for small B2B companies?
The Off-Pace Report can't measure returns, but it shows who gives up and how hard they tried. In October 2026, 40% of the UK B2B companies with 21 to 100 staff in our sample that had advertised on LinkedIn in the past year had stopped in the last 90 days. Over half of those quit within a month, and the median ran 3 ads. Many companies decide LinkedIn ads don't work after a test too short and too small to show whether they do. The October 2026 issue sets out what a fair test of LinkedIn ads looks like.