US adults will spend an average of 2 hours and 29 minutes (2:29) per day watching traditional TV in 2025, more than any other media activity, per our May 2025 forecast.
The news: WPP slashed its 2025 outlook in an earnings update, citing declines in client spend and net new business—exacerbating the agency’s turbulence over recent months and sending WPP stock to its lowest point since 2009. WPP now expects an annual revenue decline of 3% to 5%, up from its previous forecast of 2%. Our take: WPP’s woes indicate that the traditional agency model is struggling to adapt to shifting client demands, AI-led marketing, and digital disruption.
The news: Out-of-home (OOH) and TV advertising are outperforming popular channels like connected TV (CTV) and digital across metrics, per a five-year study from Clear Channel Outdoor and Kantar. Our take: OOH and TV advertising will continue playing a critical role in an effective omnichannel strategy, and the most savvy advertisers will recognize the enduring effectiveness of these channels for reaching key audiences when they’re likely to purchase.
A new Adalytics investigation reveals that YouTube served ads from major brands like Disney, HBO Max, and Hulu alongside thousands of pirated films, live TV broadcasts, and exclusive streaming content—racking up over 250 million views. The report highlights systemic failures in YouTube’s content moderation and ad placement transparency, leaving advertisers with little visibility and minimal recourse for refunds. Worse, some studios may have inadvertently paid to retarget users who pirated their own content. As copyright enforcement lags and automation is gamed, brands and rights holders face financial, reputational, and legal risks in one of digital media’s biggest ecosystems.
The news: Fortnite-maker Epic Games settled its antitrust lawsuit against Samsung, ending claims that Samsung and Google blocked rival app stores, per Bloomberg. Epic had accused Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” of preventing third-party app store downloads, alleging collusion with Google. Samsung and Google previously denied wrongdoing, calling Epic’s claims “baseless” and “meritless.” Our take: With Epic’s continued disruption of app store ecosystems, marketers should prepare for a fragmented but freer market—alternative app stores allow more control over promotions, subscriptions, and bundled offerings.
The news: AI-assisted content now dominates Google’s top search results, but pure AI rarely ranks No. 1, according to an Ahrefs analysis of 600,000 pages across 100,000 keywords. It found that most top-ranking content includes some AI input, but only 13.5% was purely human-written. Key takeaway: Google doesn’t care who wrote the content, only whether it’s of good quality. Marketers should use AI to move faster but rely on human oversight to ensure clarity, credibility, and connection. Optimizing content for authenticity, brand voice, and user engagement—as well as generative engine optimization (GEO)—could lead to higher rankings.
The news: TikTok is reportedly exploring a US-only version of the app amid ongoing discussions of a US ban and selloff, per The Information. The new app is said to align with the requirements of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. Our take: A US-specific app would allow TikTok to potentially regain advertiser confidence in a critical market—but the new app’s success depends on how a new algorithm would impact the user experience.
The news: Streaming has officially surpassed pay TV in the US, with 50.4% of households no longer subscribing to cable or satellite, per our forecast. But streaming’s ad experience still has work to do. Hub Research finds two-thirds of viewers prefer live TV ad breaks over those in on-demand streaming, and Gen Z remains the least likely to adopt ad-supported tiers. Our take: Streaming isn’t a free pass to interrupt. Gen Z demands relevance, brevity, and control—meaning streaming platforms must reengineer how, when, and where they serve ads. The format must evolve if AVOD is to survive the next wave of viewer expectations.
The news: Gander Social is an upcoming Canadian social platform built on the decentralized AT Protocol, similar to Bluesky. Gander rejects algorithmic feeds, ad surveillance, and dark UX patterns, per Metricool. As an alternative to networks like X, Meta’s Threads, and Bluesky, it offers user-controlled content, privacy by design, and community-first tools—hosted entirely within Canada. It will be available as a closed beta in August. Our take: As algorithmic fatigue and platform distrust grow, demand is rising for community-driven, ad-light spaces. Marketers should watch Gander as a testbed for the next wave of privacy-first, hyper-local platforms.
The news: Netflix is deepening its investment in unscripted TV as it aims to expand its user base and gain ad-supported subscribers, per The Wall Street Journal. The streamer reportedly spoke with Spotify about partnering on live events, including live concerts and music awards shows. Our take: Netflix’s unscripted push is a strategic move that will solidify it as a destination for high-quality originals and reality programming alike, where ad inventory is ripe, costs are low, and audiences come from all walks of life.
The news: Anime is gaining popularity across the globe, per a recent Dentsu report highlighting anime viewership trends, proving that marketers who haven’t yet paid attention to the medium need to tap in. 50% of Gen Z watches anime weekly, with 14% watching daily. Millennials also tune in frequently, with nearly half (48%) watching daily or weekly. Our take: Savvy marketers will pay attention to anime as a prime chance to reach the demographics driving the future—but going beyond a surface-level understanding of the medium will determine which marketers succeed and which fall behind.
The news: Google is launching Offerwall, a new Ad Manager tool that lets users unlock publisher content through ads, surveys, or payments—part of a broader effort to mend relationships with publishers facing traffic loss from AI Overviews and eroding ad share. Publishers say Google pays less than rivals like PubMatic and Magnite, and AI-driven zero-click searches have dropped site traffic significantly. Our take: With a DOJ remedies trial looming and ChatGPT traffic rising fast, Google’s publisher outreach isn’t just damage control—it’s existential. If AI is to remain useful and ethical, supporting the content it’s trained on is a must.
The news: Amazon is shutting down its standalone free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platform Freevee in August. All Freevee content—including original series and live TV—will migrate to Prime Video. Advertisers take heed: As streaming giants consolidate, ad buyers might see fewer platforms but more fragmented audiences. This centralization of inventory boosts scale but narrows options for niche targeting. Our take: Amazon and its rivals are bundling content into fewer apps to boost ad revenue and reduce churn. But for advertisers, viewer behavior is splintering as audiences jump between services each month, chasing new shows, deals, and lower costs.
US financial media network ad spend will soar to $1.22 billion in 2026, nearly doubling from $640 million in 2025—a 66.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), per our May 2025 forecast.
The news: Cloudflare, which serves 20% of the web and 35% of the Fortune 500, launched beta tests of Pay per Crawl, a private marketplace that lets websites charge AI companies for scraping content. It’s a strategy other content delivery networks (CDNs) will likely follow that could signal the end of AI’s unchecked scraping. Key takeaway: Though still in beta, Pay per Crawl could give websites a new layer of protection—and a path to profit—if AI companies agree to pay for content they've long used without compensation. If AI wants to keep reading the internet, it may finally have to pay the bill.
The news: Pharma advertisers spent more than $10 billion on prescription drug ads last year, with the top 10 drug brands accounting for $3.3 billion last year, per Fierce Pharma’s report based on MediaRadar data. Our take: As pharma marketers shift drug ad budgets from TV to more digital channels, they’ll have to shift thinking from spendy brand awareness to more nuanced messaging. Social media edutainment, paid AI search ads, and partnering with doctor and patient influencers can reach more relevant consumers and deliver higher ROI.
The news: Despite its massive reach, gaming still accounts for less than 5% of worldwide media investment, per Dentsu’s 2025 Gaming Trends report—indicating a disparity between where audiences spend their time and where advertisers invest. Our take: Concerns about brand safety with in-game advertising linger, but brands that are willing to take the risk stand to gain through an approach that considers that simply investing in the format isn’t enough to drive results.
The news: Podcast ad spending intention will reach an 11-year high in 2025, and more advertisers are investing in the medium than ever, per a Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights report. Podcast ad spend intention reached 69% among agencies and advertisers surveyed, the highest in the eleven years tracked by Cumulus and Signal Hill. 78% are already investing in podcast advertising, five times higher than the amount investing in 2015. Our take: As listenership spikes, podcasts will continue being a key investment for savvy advertisers—and those who know how to maximize the medium’s potential will come out on top.
The news: Microsoft Advertising now enforces policy compliance at the asset level—ad headlines, descriptions, and images will be reviewed individually. If one element violates policy, the rest of the ad can stay live, as long as the minimum required approved assets remain, per MarTech. Key takeaway: Marketers should embrace modular creative strategies, ensuring each individual asset is in compliance. Build campaigns with redundancy in approved elements to maintain uptime, and monitor flagged assets to quickly respond and ensure ad integrity.