Read the latest stories in advertising from Insider Intelligence.

Every national market in the world will finish this year with more ad spending than in 2020. In most categories, worldwide growth records will be shattered. But 2021 was a very unusual year, following a very unusual 2020.

YouTube’s free TV shows will boost its watch time and appease nervous advertisers: Ad-supported TV is an obvious move, but the platform lacks access to today’s biggest hits.

TV squeaks past online and mobile video to become the top video ad channel among US agency and marketing professionals. In October, 47% ranked TV—including connected TV (CTV) and OTT—as the No. 1 video type for achieving their advertising goals. That’s more than the 46% who put online and mobile video in first place.

BetterHelp bested other US podcast advertisers in 2021 and spent $76.9 million on podcast placements that year. This was nearly triple the outlays of NBCUniversal, the second-biggest spender, at $27.7 million. All told, the top 10 podcast advertisers invested close to $300 million.

Due to listener growth, advertisers no longer find digital audio advertising experimental.

The closure of an ad-free YouTube app is a reminder of ad blockers’ prominence: Digital advertising efforts are at odds with the experience most internet users want.

Retailers take last-mile fulfillment into their own hands: Companies like Costco and Amazon are building their own logistics networks, to the detriment of FedEx and UPS.

On today's episode, we discuss whether Disney+ is back on track, how to read HBO Max's numbers, and whether Paramount+ can keep up. For "In Other News," we talk about why folks are cutting the cord today and why there's been a boost in ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) ad spending. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Ross Benes.