eMarketer junior analyst Blake Droesch and principal analysts at Insider Intelligence Mark Dolliver and Yory Wurmser discuss whether foldable phones have already failed, what happens when free subscription video trials expire, media companies restructuring around streaming, Apple's 24-hour music video livestream, which shopping trends will last, what if Iron Man was real, and more.

The 2020 US holiday season, set amid the backdrop of a pandemic-driven consumer economy, will see an unprecedented shift to ecommerce.

eMarketer principal analysts Mark Dolliver and Nicole Perrin, junior forecasting analyst Nazmul Islam and senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Oscar Orozco discuss what the coronavirus pandemic has and hasn't done to print media. They then talk about racial diversity in ads, millennials in decision-making roles, and American teens' favorite social media platforms.

Marketers will spend $17.37 billion on advertising on ecommerce sites and apps this year, according to eMarketer’s first-ever forecast of ecommerce channel ad spending. Ad spending on ecommerce properties will be up 38.8% from 2019—an acceleration of spending growth, thanks to the pandemic. By the end of this year, ecommerce channel advertising will represent 12.2% of US digital ad spend.

Our new forecast for global mobile messaging app users shows that the pandemic has accelerated adoption of OTT messaging services, though not in every country nor to the same degree for every app.

eMarketer junior analyst Blake Droesch and principal analysts at Insider Intelligence Debra Aho Williamson, Mark Dolliver, and Jeremy Goldman discuss how social media might change as a result of the continued spread of misinformation on the platforms and general negative sentiment surrounding them. They then talk about the best way to use Stories, influencer ad disclosure, and which consumer group has increased its social media usage the most during the pandemic.

Many adults worldwide are feeling the effects of the pandemic, particularly on their mental health

Most advertisers have pulled back their spending, but streaming services are marketing themselves as heavily as ever.

The pandemic has brought an influx of new users for subscription OTT, live videos, and video games in 2020, but other activities such as social networking, mobile messaging, and digital video haven’t seen the same bump.

eMarketer research analyst Hirsch Chitkara and principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Yory Wurmser discuss the new 5G iPhone 12 and whether it will be a game-changer. They then talk about living in a mobile-first world, why your next phone might come without any apps and rewarded video vs. in-app purchases.

Traditionally, advertisers make big spending commitments to get the best deal on TV inventory. eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin speaks with fellow principal analyst Andrew Lipsman, senior analyst Ross Benes, and forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom about why Procter & Gamble's chief brand officer Marc Pritchard thinks marketers don't benefit from this arrangement as much as those on the sell side do. They also talk about what's going on at Quibi, Apple TV+, and The Walt Disney Co.

Marketers have had to be nimble as they navigate during these uncertain times. Real-time data and feedback has helped many—including companies like UberEats and Chobani—stay on top of things and reach consumers with relevant content and marketing amid the pandemic.

The media and entertainment industries have traditionally made up a small fraction of the US digital ad market, and we expect their shares to remain flat or diminish through 2021. This partly has to do with traditional media conglomerates tightening their belts; their own ad revenues will continue to decline as ad dollars shift away from print and TV and toward the digital duopolies.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch, principal analyst Jillian Ryan, and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss the major digital pivot to reimagined events amid COVID-19. Then, the usual suspects talk about Twitter's fight against election misinformation, TikTok's potential rivals, untapped marketing to lower-income customers, ecommerce within YouTube, and how cats aren't as heartless as they seem.

Apparel manufacturing company Dickies recently launched a digital-first content campaign to build on its ongoing diversity efforts. Amid the pandemic, it had to be shot by the very creators highlighted in it, using their own devices.

Business Insider Intelligence research analyst Daniel Keyes, eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman and senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Cindy Liu try their hands at playing a special, Amazon-themed game of "What's the Point?" where they discuss how the US House antitrust report affects Amazon, luxury brands on the platform, palm-print payment, all the new details about Prime Day 2020, and more.

The number of US digital gamers will grow by 5.0% this year to 174.7 million. That’s roughly 8 million more than last year, and an increase of 5 million gamers from our previous forecast for 2020.

Based on a bottom-up look at the market, eMarketer has updated our estimates of US digital ad spending this year. eMarketer forecasting analysts Eric Haggstrom and Peter Vahle, along with junior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Nazmul Islam, join eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to talk about the building blocks of the forecast, what we know about performance at major digital ad sellers, and how it all adds up to the whole. Plus, they put our digital forecast in the context of other major media.

The reports in this collection look at ad spending in the retail, financial services, computing products and consumer electronics, automotive, telecom, travel, health and pharma, media and entertainment, and CPG industries. Countries covered in this report series include the US, UK, and Germany.

We previously expected there to be 80.5 million US pay TV households this year. We updated our forecast in August, and we now believe that figure will decline by 7.5% to 77.6 million. Our pay TV figures exclude virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs), which deliver live TV over the internet.​

eMarketer senior analyst Ross Benes, forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom and senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Oscar Orozco discuss the gradual return of sports audiences and how advertisers are viewing these marketing opportunities. They then talk about Facebook halting political ads after the election, Twitch selling inventory on Amazon's advertising platform, and out-of-home advertising in Q2.

TikTok’s future in the US is still uncertain, but any decision will affect a significant number of US consumers. We forecast that TikTok will have 65.9 million monthly US users in 2020, up from 35.6 million in 2019.