The news: Meta and Google still account for 88% of mobile ad spending despite shifting user habits, per a Moloco report. But while advertiser attention remains firmly focused on Big Tech, those that diversify their media mix could increase financial returns as much as 214%. Our take: As audiences become fragmented across social media, advertisers are increasingly faced with the need to look beyond the big players—but with big tech still commanding attention, a balanced approach is key.
The news: Child safety concerns are mounting as several platforms face heightened scrutiny over lacking moderation capabilities. Google settled a lawsuit on Tuesday over claims that it violated children’s privacy through YouTube by collecting personal data for targeted ads without parental consent, though the company denied wrongdoing in its decision to settle. Our take: Heightened scrutiny over where advertisers spend and what they promote is a must-have amid current concerns over child safety online, and brands must practice caution when implementing strategies that could be perceived as targeting minors.
Ten years after its establishment, Amazon Business is expanding its seller network and product selection to serve an 8 million global organization customer base, which has grown 33% from 6 million in 2023. Many of the capabilities that individual shoppers enjoy on Amazon’s B2C platform—broad selection, cost savings, and advanced technology—are being applied to its B2B marketplace to help organizations work smarter and more efficiently. As Amazon Business continues to innovate, it is poised to compete for more sales from companies seeking to save time and resources.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how to best decide who to partner with, the right conditions for a successful store-in-a-store relationship, how to approach long-term partnerships versus one-off collaborations. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and guest host, Marcus Johnson, Vice President of Content, Suzy Davidkhanian, and the Founder and CEO of Mack Weldon, Brian Berger. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The news: Many marketers and salespeople doubt AI’s ability to boost company revenues or customer satisfaction. Some even believe it adds to their workload, signaling a disconnect between AI adoption and employee confidence. Only 39% of marketers and sales professionals in the US and UK are confident that their departments’ use of AI drives revenues, per General Assembly’s AI in Marketing & Sales report. Nearly half (46%) believe AI only somewhat improves the customer experience or doesn’t at all. Our take: Organizations that prioritize tailored training and tie outcomes to KPIs like team efficiency and customer satisfaction could help employees feel empowered and translate AI investments into measurable impact.
The news: CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reorganized Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) into four units focused on research, superintelligence, products, and infrastructure, per The New York Times. Meta further splitting its AI division, which it spun off in June, underscores both ambition and internal turmoil as it races rivals like OpenAI and Google. Our take: Meta’s public growing pains show it won’t sit out the AI race, even if upheaval is the cost. Its future direction will have wider implications—if Meta leans into closed AI models, the shift could reshape how outside developers and partners interact with its platforms. For advertisers, the signal is clear: Expect fresh AI features in Meta’s ad products, but brace for volatility as Meta struggles to align its people, platforms, and technology.
The news: Mastercard has awarded WPP Media its $180 million media account after ending its relationship with Dentsu-owned Carat. Our take: WPP Media’s previous with PayPal may give insight into the type of media it might produce for Mastercard. As the creative firm behind the “Venmo Everything” campaign and the Will Ferrell-fronted PayPal Pay Later campaign, Mastercard’s new promos likely will feature zeitgeisty and generationally buzzy celebrities to target younger demographics.
The news: TikTok is experiencing massive growth among older generations, with adoption for users 45+ growing 1,200% between 2019 and 2025, per CivicScience—suggesting its stickiness across demographics and emphasizing older consumers’ buying power. Our take: A successful social advertising strategy will strike a balance: Valuing younger demographics for their growing influence while accounting for the enduring importance of older generations for driving digital purchases as social media adoption skyrockets.
The news: Meta is moving forward with its ad automation ambitions by introducing new options to consolidate ad targeting, per a company announcement. Meta’s Ads Manager page noted that “some detailed targeting options have been combined,” and that ads using now-unavailable options no longer deliver starting in January. Our take: Automated AI campaigns are the path forward as long as giants like Meta continue pushing for automation and away from manual—necessitating advertisers take key steps to adapt. Campaign goals must be reframed for an AI-first environment.
Generative AI is rapidly moving from novelty to necessity in advertising, collapsing production costs and timelines while expanding creative possibilities. National TV ads that once required six figures and weeks of work can now be made in days for a fraction of the budget, opening broadcast-quality campaigns to smaller advertisers. With nearly 90% of large video advertisers already adopting AI, use cases like personalization, ideation, and versioning are proliferating. Yet consumer skepticism remains strong—especially among older audiences—underscoring that human craft and cultural nuance still matter. The challenge ahead: merging automation’s efficiency with trust and authentic creativity at scale.
The news: Google Ads is ending manual language targeting, taking over a significant element of campaign management. In lieu of manual targeting, Google’s AI will detect user language automatically using signals such as language settings and historic search activity. Our take: Brands should consider auditing current campaigns to identify where automated language detection might create gaps and establish safeguards, such as breaking out campaigns by region or market and including clear, native-language text in headlines and descriptions to signal intended language to both users and Google’s systems.
The news: A federal appeals court upheld $92 million in fines against T-Mobile and Sprint for illegally selling customer location information (CLI) without proper consent or safeguards. Our take: When building campaigns that use location-based targeting or CLI, marketers should treat consent and transparency as not only legal checkboxes but also strategic imperatives. Brands that clearly communicate how data is collected and used will build trust and better maintain customer loyalty.
"Sometimes a brand puts out a campaign and the internet goes wild, but it's not always in the way that the brand had hoped," said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent episode of “Behind the Numbers.” For example, a recent American Eagle jeans campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney sparked controversy, with headlines like "Sydney Sweeney under fire after controversial American Eagle ad campaign" to "American Eagle stock rises after Trump praises Sydney Sweeney ad amid backlash."
Only 40% of US retail media networks (RMNs) offer self-service sales data, according to Q2 data from Mars United Commerce.
The news: ByteDance’s TikTok paid people to lend their likenesses to digital avatars, often paying less than $1,000 per actor, per The New York Times. The avatars, which are free for TikTok advertisers to use, were meant for TikTok alone but have appeared on ByteDance’s video-editing tool CapCut and on platforms like Facebook and YouTube. Our take: AI-based productions are democratizing advertising, allowing even the smallest firms to produce high-quality ads with minimal effort and budgets. Forty-five percent of smaller advertisers will use generative AI (genAI) in their videos by 2026, per IAB’s 2025 Digital Video Ad Spend Report. However, brands must weigh the benefits against the risks, considering 31% of US adults say AI use in ads would make them less likely to buy, per CivicScience.
The trend: Paper coupons are making a comeback as brands zig while their competitors zag. Direct-to-consumer upstarts like Viv For Your V, Culture Pop, and Blume are experimenting with print coupons to drive awareness and trial, per Modern Retail. The move runs counter to an industry leaning heavily digital, where advertising costs are climbing and consumer attention is fragmented. And it’s not just startups. Kroger recently introduced paper versions of its weekly digital deals after hearing from shoppers who struggle with online access, aiming to bridge the so-called “digital divide.” Our take: Brands’ use of paper coupons mirrors retailers like Dollar General, Neiman Marcus, and Amazon, which have experimented with print catalogs to grab attention in a digital-first world. With shoppers increasingly price-sensitive, less brand loyal, and actively seeking deals, a tangible coupon in hand may be just the nudge that turns browsing into buying in today’s cautious consumer climate.
32% of US connected TV (CTV) users find traditional TV ads useful/helpful for holiday gift info, while 34% say the same about streaming TV ads, according to June 2025 data from LG Ad Solutions.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss if the death of the Late Show is “the canary in the linear coal mine” and the biggest takeaways from the landmark NFL and ESPN deal. Join our conversation with Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Senior Editor, Daniel Konstantinovic, and Vice President of Content, Paul Verna. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The news: YouTube has made an official inquiry about purchasing the rights to future Academy Awards ceremonies in its latest live events push, per Bloomberg. The move comes after viewership increased slightly for the most recent Oscars ceremony, driven by simultaneous airing on ABC and Hulu. Our take: Rather than competing head-on with broadcast, YouTube can position itself as a complementary streaming partner that extends the Oscars’ reach by highlighting shifting viewership trends that capture audiences broadcast alone struggles to reach and its edge in premium video advertising.
ChatGPT saw 52.2 million US unique visitors in June, up 180.6% from last July, per Comscore.