On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what makes Dollar General Media Network unique, how it's approaching measurement, and what it’s focusing on for next year. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Analyst Sarah Marzano, and Vice President and General Manager of DG Media Network, Austin Leonard. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
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Become a ClientAs AI increasingly powers everything from holiday ads to product recommendations, retailers face a critical balancing act between efficiency and authenticity. "The question isn't if retailers will use AI, it's how they'll keep using it and maintain the human touch along the way," said host Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent episode of “Behind the Numbers.”
China’s Singles’ Day has lost much of its hype and enthusiasm. As the curtain falls on this year’s festival, now a five-week event, value-driven consumers and global ambitions have redefined the world’s largest online shopping event.
As more brands build retail media networks (RMNs) to connect advertisers with shoppers, the once experimental channel has grown pivotal to marketers. US retail media search ad spending alone is projected to rake in $38.42 billion this year, according to our March 2025 forecast.
Consumer concerns over AI scams are rising, as three-quarters of UK adults believe AI advancements have made online scams more difficult to identify, per Barclays. Just 36% of UK consumers are confident they could spot an AI scam. As consumers wade through scams to find legitimate retail sites, ecommerce marketers should review brand search results, monitor social mentions, earn trust through About and FAQ pages, and advertise with caution on social media sites.
New Apple research points to the iPhone company pairing large language models (LLMs) with traditional sensors to build a more precise understanding of what a user is doing in real time. It’s likely to show up in sensor-enabled smartphones, computers, and smart home hubs hinged on ambient intelligence. Brands should explore how to design for moments, not messages. Build content and promotions that surface organically depending on a user’s activity, be it cooking, commuting, or exercising—so brands show up when it matters most.
The Omnicom-IPG merger has cleared its last obstacle after the European Commission—the last market whose approval was needed—officially granted greenlit the acquisition. Omnicom and IPG overcoming the final barrier to merge offers the potential for more comprehensive and efficient services—but also introduces new risks related to talent retention and creative diversity.
Google has officially begun showing ads in its AI Mode search engine after announcing a rollout earlier this year. Google’s early testing of ads in AI Mode suggests that AI-driven search placements are beginning to take shape and may ultimately unlock new revenue potential. But with performance still unproven, advertisers should track developments closely while resisting the urge to invest heavily before the format demonstrates clear value.
OpenAI faces rising pressure from Google’s Gemini 3 because of its improved performance and multimodal functionality in text, sound, vision, video, and coding tasks. Meanwhile, new data shows that ChatGPT drives far less traffic to publishers than expected. Gemini 3’s leap forward and ChatGPT’s diminishing user clicks force brands to rethink how they show up in a world where answers live inside the model, not on the open web. Optimizing for generative engines now and focusing on answer-ready content will drive traffic, monetization, and attribution later as more engagement happens inside AI rather than after clicks.
A new study shows that while commerce media enthusiasm is high, actual readiness is far lower. Nearly half of respondents believe they are operationalized, yet only 13% qualify as advanced across leadership, technology, and measurement. Most fall into nascent or emerging categories, limited by siloed workflows, manual creative processes, and fragmented data systems that prevent closed-loop attribution. Advertisers seeking accountable, performance-driven programs may be surprised by how few networks can truly support scaled, automated operations. The findings highlight a widening gap between ambition and capability—and the need for unified data, automation, and clearer measurement.