The news: The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) lowered its 2025 US ad spending forecast from 7.3% growth to 5.7%, citing “macroeconomic pressures” and tariffs. What brands can do next: The most effective marketing strategies will vary dramatically across industries. Low-cost, high-ROI channels can squeeze the most out of limited budgets, but marketers shouldn’t underestimate the value of branding and loyalty.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our ‘very specific, but highly unlikely’ predictions for 2025. What would happen if Google preemptively broke itself into smaller pieces, if online shopping flatlined, and if the audio ad space doubled in size in short order. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Director of Reports Editing Rahul Chadha, and Senior Analysts Blake Droesch and Max Willens. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Meta revenues up 16% YoY in Q1: The company started the year off on a positive note, but tariffs could foreshadow strife.

Barnes & Noble is expanding its footprint: Riding a wave of strong sales—and buoyed by the #BookTok phenomenon—the bookseller expects to open more than 60 new stores this year.

Why CPMs are falling at Upfronts: Increased inventory and viewership is causing streamers to soften prices during the buying season.

Nielsen and Paramount bury the hatchet: Measurement renewal deal offers a glimpse into the state of Nielsen competitors.

What Omnicom-IPG’s tepid revenue outlook means: The two ad giants could upend agency dynamics, but tech firms are the industry’s real power brokers.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how the election influenced consumers' shopping habits, why returns spiked, and some way too early predictions for the 2025 holiday season. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Senior Analyst Zak Stambor and Analyst Rachel Wolff.

The technology will improve banks’ customer service and help them deliver more personalized interactions.

In 2025, retailers will redefine value by blending discounts with innovation, empathy, and personalization. Brands will prioritize authentic connections, engaging audiences through in-person experiences, and highly targeted campaigns powered by advanced technologies like AI. Let’s look at three key marketing themes industry experts believe will shape 2025.

On today’s podcast, we discuss the EMARKETER report, 9 Pivotal Shifts in AI, Regulation, and Advertising That Will Change the Business Landscape. Our analysts will compete in the Great Behind The Numbers Take Off – Top Trends edition, borrowing from the television show, The Great British Bake Off. In the Take Off, we will talk in-depth about how retail media, social and AI will undercut traditional search and will governments protect children from digital ad giants. Listen to the conversation with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, and Analyst Bill Fisher. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss where the content production dollars will be going, what the Omnicom and IPG deal will mean for the agency client relationship, and how the antitrust and other legal cases against Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and TikTok will play out in 2025. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President of Research Jennifer Pearson, and Vice President Paul Verna.

Delinquencies, co-brand movement, and the biggest mega-merger yet are just some of the things that will shape the new year.

RFK Jr.’s pharmaceutical ad ban could affect $22 billion in ad spending: A business-friendly Trump administration could hamper RFK’s plans to cut D2C advertising.

Retail media was the fastest-growing ad channel we tracked in the US in 2024. While that growth will slow slightly (from 20.4% to 20.2%) in 2025, it’s still primed for innovation—and challenges. Here’s what our analysts and podcast guests had to say about retail media, with insights into what it means for 2025.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how Google’s cookie choices affect targeting with insights on alternative identifiers, data privacy, and strategies for 2025. Tune in to the discussion with our Principal Analyst and host Yory Wurmser, Chief Brand Officer of CP Skin Health Group Echo Sandburg and Senior Director First Party Data Strategy of the Eli Lilly & Company Moitree Rahman.

Commerce media is becoming more competitive as retailers and non-retailers continue to build out their networks and advertisers prioritize measurement for proven results. Looking ahead to 2025, cross-industry partnerships will grow and in-store media will enable retailers to merge online behaviors with in-person shopping.

Every major industry will increase total ad spend in the next two years, with media and entertainment leading the pack. Programmatic and B2B ready for a digital shift, while mobile remains dominant with in-game advertising. Here are four takeaways from EMARKETER’s Industry Ad Spending Benchmarks: Q4 2024 and what they mean for the upcoming years.