Our analysts (or “bakers”) will compete in a Great British Bake Off–style episode, discussing how the digital shelf for ecommerce will adapt to speak to AI audiences and how retailers will counter AI’s rise by connecting with customers IRL. Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, and Senior Analyst Blake Droesch.
AI influenced $262 billion in global holiday sales, but most impact came from chatbots and behind-the-scenes customer service, not from shopping assistants.
OpenAI seeks real consumer intent, and a potential Pinterest acquisition would give OpenAI first-party shopping signals and native ad infrastructure to rival Google and Meta.
48% of worldwide B2B marketers say interactive experiences, live/virtual events, and video content make thought leadership more impactful, according to July 2025 data from Ascend2 and TopRank Marketing.
Wall-sized TVs, smart rings, and humanoid robots make once-futuristic ideas ready for your living room.
AI platforms must tread carefully to avoid crossing into diagnosis and treatment advice
The ad industry kept busy during the holiday season, so we rounded up the biggest stories from the last two weeks you need to know about.
AI will reshape premium video buying—and NBCUniversal’s proof-of-concept shows agentic systems can unify planning and optimization across linear and streaming in seconds.
40% of marketers worldwide are using AI for social media management, the top reported use case, according to a September 2025 survey from MiQ and Censuswide.
2025 saw mergers, layoffs, and AI overhauls as the agency model fractured and reformed.
Agencies that don’t make AI skills a core part of employee training risk being sidelined in the age of AI.
Next year will bring shifts that redefine how networks operate, how brands show up, and how performance is measured. Here are three predictions for commerce media in 2026.
Deepfake scandal clouds enterprise rollout, raising flags on brand safety and buyer trust.
AI is moving from novelty to necessity in wellness tech with skin scans, therapy booths, and more.
SoftBank and Alphabet acquire AI infrastructure in anticipation of a compute crunch that could limit access for businesses.
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.
Marketers across categories are calling for simpler, more intuitive advertising systems after years of growing fragmentation and technical overload. In interviews with EMARKETER, leaders from Criteo, LiveRamp, Reddit, Vistar Media, StackAdapt, and DoorDash all described a shift toward platforms that reduce effort, unify workflows, and provide clearer decision making. Buyers want fewer interfaces, standardized KPIs, easier activation, and more transparent insight into where ads run. The message is consistent: performance pressure amplifies the value of operational clarity. As the industry moves into 2026, platforms that eliminate friction—rather than add features—will gain share, while marketers who choose simplicity will gain speed and efficiency.
It may be a new year, but we’re still catching up on what happened during the last week of 2025. Here’s everything you may have missed.