The pandemic has accelerated consumer adoption of QR codes. Here’s how marketers can take advantage of the technology.

Agencies spy an opportunity in the metaverse: WPP is partnering with Epic Games on a new initiative for that very reason.

At the heart of Amazon's flywheel is Amazon Prime—a subscription service that includes a wide variety of perks such as discounts on select items, expedited shipping, and online videos, games, and music, to name a few.

In total, they spent 51 minutes per day, on average, with digital games in H1 2021. Smartwatches and other digital gadgets aren’t a priority for most internet users, though penetration rates have risen. Almost half (48.0%) of internet users owned a smart TV in H1 2021. Ownership was above 50% among those ages 25 to 54, and it reached 61.0% in the most affluent group.

The share of internet users who owned a gaming console continued to rise, however, surpassing 43%. Smartwatches and smart wristbands also gained market share in H1 2021, with penetration rising to double digits (11.6% and 10.0%, respectively). Smart home products—such as remotely controlled energy monitors or smart appliances—broke into double digits too, as ownership climbed to 11.7%.

A new bill targets acquisitions, but could struggle to get passed: Democrats are backing an antitrust measure that would let them block mergers of over $5 billion.

Music streaming, gaming, and digital video took up broadly equal amounts of internet users’ time on a typical day in H1 2021, at 1:03, 1:06, and 1:06, respectively. Meanwhile, 37 minutes were devoted to podcasts daily, on average, compared with 31 minutes in H1 2020.

We expect that Twitch’s monthly user base in the US will jump from 31.4 million in 2021 to 36.7 million in 2025, as the platform grows further beyond video games to include politics, live podcasting, and more.