In 2024, some of our newsletter team’s predictions included that attention metrics would gain more momentum in measurement, and Gen Alpha would steal some of Gen Z’s appeal among marketers. This year, we’re expecting a surge in AI ethics campaigns, email marketing troubles, rising browser competition, as well as some innovation in the world of gaming. Our analysts have already shared many of their predictions for 2025, but here are a few more from our newsletter team.
With tools like OpenAI’s Swarm and Google’s Mariner, businesses are using smarter AI to automate decisions, disrupt roles, and redefine how work gets done.
Meta’s AI push risks alienating users if social feeds flood with bots. Balancing innovation with human creator support will be key to retaining its audience.
Walmart dominated the US retail landscape in 2024: The mass merchant’s ability to offer savings and convenience won over shoppers, and its growing ecommerce and advertising businesses are helping it make inroads against Amazon.
The year of AI: Artificial intelligence invaded all aspects of life in 2024, from work to play and generation to generation. New genAI players appeared to take on megaliths like Google and Meta. It would be a copout to say that 2025 will bring more of the same, but we expect startups to begin taking more market share from Big Tech and challenging the status quo.
Google, Apple, and Samsung integrated genAI into their flagship devices, but delays and tepid consumer interest signal challenges ahead.
2024 saw a pivot to specialized AI agents and personalized search tools, with on-device AI driving adoption despite skepticism about added costs for smartphones.
Big Tech’s energy shift: Companies like Google and Microsoft are increasingly turning to nuclear energy to meet the escalating power demands of AI, but regulators could stop projects before they start.
Keep it simple, smart, and familiar: Forget futuristic pendants and pins—AI wearables that look like regular gear but pack powerful features will be the ones capturing market share in 2025.
Facing regulatory scrutiny, market share erosion, and diversification risks, OpenAI must innovate in multimodal AI while proving profitability to sustain its industry leadership.
While Gemini and cloud services drive record revenues, competition and global regulatory actions threaten its monopoly, particularly in search and advertising ecosystems
Abandoning its EV ambitions, Apple focuses on AI-driven services and devices, aiming to lead on-device innovation while navigating fierce competition and regulatory battles
RTO policies clashed with remote-work culture as AI-driven layoffs swept through industries, highlighting a shifting balance between workforce stability and technological adaptation.
In January, our EMARKETER Daily newsletter team made some advertising and marketing predictions for 2024 on everything from AI to attention metrics.
Cyberattacks and overloads disrupt industries: From telecom strikes to service failures, 2024’s outages underline the fragility of tech systems and the urgent need for diversification and resilience strategies.
Retail genAI use is skyrocketing: Retailers are wielding the tech to improve productivity and the customer experience while shoppers rely on genAI to uncover deals and product recommendations.
37% of AI initiatives in the UK and US are run by the CMO or another executive, and 26% by a marketing operations team, per a November report from Invoca.
Brands focus on AI as creative ally: The technology's role in fostering innovation and cost savings augments human touch.
The martech landscape is shifting from prompt-based AI to more sophisticated autonomous systems. Agentic AI—artificial intelligence that can independently execute tasks, make decisions, and learn from interactions—represents a significant evolution in how marketing teams can operate and scale their efforts.
Ad buyers will see a year of agency changes, privacy problems, AI innovations, and media network competition in 2025. Here are five charts to help media planners prepare for the year ahead.