Deepfake scandal clouds enterprise rollout, raising flags on brand safety and buyer trust.
Reddit is leans into AI automation with its new Max campaigns. The new offering promises to cut CPAs and lift conversions, giving marketers efficiency relief as social CPMs rise sharply.
AI is moving from novelty to necessity in wellness tech with skin scans, therapy booths, and more.
Netflix’s 2026 ad plans revolve around WBD: The mega-merger would give the burgeoning ad business a major boost for years to come.
Disney will fully fold Hulu content into Disney+ by 2026, transforming Disney+ into a broader streaming portal spanning family programming, general entertainment, news, and sports. Hulu’s brand will remain intact inside the app, but its slowing revenue trajectory—expected to reach nearly $12 billion by 2027—has accelerated the logic for consolidation. The strategy becomes more important as Netflix pursues its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, potentially creating the most powerful premium-content library in streaming. Disney must keep viewers inside its ecosystem longer, reduce churn, and strengthen its ad-supported tiers. Success depends on balancing Hulu’s adult content with Disney+’s family identity while expanding perceived value.
Asia-Pacific ad growth will remain steady in 2026 as momentum shifts to digital, retail media, and CTV. Rising demand for premium video contrasts with uneven expansion across fast-growing and mature markets.
Our analysts (or “bakers”) will compete in a Great British Bake Off–style episode, discussing how new standards will unlock agentic ad buying and selling, and how (and why) YouTube will benefit most from the surge in video podcasts. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Senior Analyst Ross Benes and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
At CES, Amazon is repositioning Amazon Ads as a full advertising ecosystem rather than a commerce-adjacent channel, emphasizing unified reach across TV, streaming, live sports, audio, and programmatic partners.
SoftBank and Alphabet acquire AI infrastructure in anticipation of a compute crunch that could limit access for businesses.
Chick-fil-A launches biggest-ever campaign amid QSR headwinds: The chicken chain is celebrating its 80th birthday with LTOs, merch, and a healthy dose of nostalgia.
Saks Global's high-risk bet on Neiman Marcus has backfired, saddling it with considerable debt, limiting its ability to compete and sending it spiraling toward bankruptcy.
News about delayed tariffs, activist pressure on retailers, and a failed JC Penney deal closed out 2025.
Voice assistants evolve into AI-first interfaces—blending conversation, context, and control across ecosystems.
Half of US adults say AI videos will push them away—raising risks for brands appearing near low-quality content.
T-Mobile’s orbit ambitions bring SMS to dead zones, expanding ad reach to highways, oceans, and rural users.
Many of the trends that dictated travel spending in 2025 will remain in play in 2026, including market bifurcation, AI influence, and anti-US sentiment.
Chase launched an exclusive travel series, Sapphire Reserve Trips, eligible for Sapphire Reserve cardholders, per a press release. Cardholders will receive 8X points for any Chase Travel booking and can maximize points with Points Boosts, which gives members another 2X points at hotels and flights booked with select airlines through Chase Travel. Chase’s promotions of experiential, exclusive, and personalized rewards is critical to capture more wealthy millennials and Gen Zers into their ecosystem. To avoid disappointment from cardholders, issuers should cap enrollment for trips to prevent overcrowding found at premium airport lounges and preserve a private experience for a select group of cardholders.
With 95% of gamers active weekly, brands that balance ad quality and compliance can gain lasting recall.
Rapid shifts in platforms, pricing, and viewer behavior raise the stakes for metadata-driven, future-ready planning.
Inflation, layoffs, and uncertain tariffs may dampen demand even as AI raises hope for new sales channels.