For some time now, consumers have been moving toward demanding more frictionless payment methods across online and offline channels. The social distancing and sanitizing practices brought on by the pandemic proved to be the push that encouraged many consumers to try proximity mobile payments (paying for goods using a mobile phone as a physical POS) for the first time. Ecommerce retailers, not to be outdone, are finding ways to improve their transactions as well.

Down to collab? A look at influencer income

For the 2021–2022 TV season, US upfront ad spending will bounce back to nearly pre-pandemic levels, if not to its 2018–2019 peak, according to our latest estimates.

A BitPay study found US consumers are increasingly interested in making purchases with cryptos, creating a growth opportunity for payment providers in the space.

On today's episode, we discuss why Uber is trying to be a one-stop shop and how DoorDash outperformed Uber during the pandemic. We then talk about The New York Times' Q1 subscriber and revenue performance, NBCUniversal's thoughts on regional sports, and what stood out at this year's NewFronts. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom.

Banking tech vendor Zeta eyes US market boost: The company plans to enhance its global footprint with proceeds from a $250 million round led by SoftBank—placing it in a strong position to make clients out of smaller banking players that are eager to upgrade their offerings.

Travel's on the up: With US adults' demand for domestic travel on the rise, prices are following. But there are still a few ways for marketers to capture that demand among price-conscious travelers.

Spelling out the value of virtual care: The AMA released a framework to measure the value of virtual care—this could help health systems get a clearer idea of the return on their telehealth investments, but they still have patient and provider woes to deal with to reap its full ROI.

The Series D round gives Figure a $3.2 billion valuation. The fintech is still awaiting the verdict for its Fintech Charter application, which, if successful, will likely push more crypto firms to apply.

The new IoT specialized 5G modem will improve IoT functionality in mission critical applications and may ultimately accelerate IoT device adoption among various industries.

We forecast that this year, adults in China will spend an average of 3 hours, 16 minutes (3:16) per day on smartphone activities, which we define as excluding calls on the cellular network. Up 25 minutes, or 14.6%, from 2020, this total will vault China to first place in the world for that metric. The US will drop to No. 2, with adults there spending 3:10 on smartphones daily.