Amazon plots an upgrade to its search capabilities, with help from generative AI: The retailer is planning to incorporate an AI chatbot to help shoppers with queries, recommendations, and product comparisons.

Cross-border ecommerce is rising in popularity as US consumers look for value amid inflation. But growth has slowed from previous boom years.

Generative AI is poised to reshape the search advertising market. With a significant first-mover advantage, will Microsoft grow its share of search ad budgets? How can advertisers stay ahead of the curve?

US digital ad spend growth will return to double digits next year at 11.2% growth, following 2023’s slower growth of 7.8%. Growth certainly won’t return to the 37.6% growth we saw in 2021, but it will increase steadily. Come 2025, US digital ad spend will pass $300 billion and keep climbing to nearly $400 billion by the end of 2027.

Walmart lags behind Amazon in total ecommerce sales, retail media ad dollars, and retail subscriptions. But there may be ways for it to minimize the gap in certain areas, namely search and AI capabilities.

This year’s upfronts have been unusual, with the haze of the Writers Guild of America strike and a decisive shift toward streaming. From YouTube’s mixed messages to Netflix’s ad-supported tier’s less-than-impressive beginning, here are five trends pinpointed by our analyst.

Digital ad spending will increase slightly faster this year than in 2022, but the bump will be minimal. Total media ad spending growth will roughly hold steady. But there are parts of the world where spending is surging.

Worsening economic conditions will take their toll on Latin America’s digital ad market this year. Despite gains of 12.7%, digital ad spending will fail to outpace the rate of inflation for the first time since we began tracking the region in 2011. Here are our latest forecasts.

On today's episode, we discuss how we should feel about Amazon's online sales being flat, how its ad business was able to have such a good quarter, and why the company has yet to find a mass grocery format worth expanding. "In Other News," we talk about how Pinterest has been doing and just how popular self-checkout is. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Blake Droesch.

Amazon is doing everything it can to keep growing: The retailer has a dizzying array of initiatives in the pipeline, from in-game merchandise shops to generative AI advertising tools to incentives for shoppers to retrieve orders in person.

Google and Meta’s combined share of the US digital ad market dropped below 50% in 2022, and in just a few years that figure will be down to 43.0%. The triopoly is losing share now, as well; Amazon’s ascent will not be fast enough to offset the weakness of the other two giants.

Amazon and big-box stores are likely to win from Bed Bath & Beyond’s collapse, while fast-fashion retailers could score displaced David’s Bridal customers. But keep a lookout for underdogs like Etsy, which may bring in shoppers looking for personalized party supplies in Party City’s absence.

Ad spending is looking shaky for many of the legacy formats across digital and traditional. New channels have arrived, however, and there are bright spots. This year could be rough, but 2024 is looking better.

Mobile and video formats will be key to a recovering ad market in the years ahead.

Shoppable media is gaining momentum as brands look for ways to narrow the gap between discovery and purchase. Just this month, Pinterest, NBCUniversal, Meta, and Yahoo announced shoppable media updates. From AI to QR codes, we dive deeper into these developments and why they may give companies an edge.

New travel features will help Amazon better compete in the co-brand space and rack up volume.

Marketplaces are fighting for the crown in US ecommerce. Though Amazon remains solidly atop ecommerce sales, Walmart and Shopify are attempting to carve into Amazon’s revenues. Here are the latest updates in ecommerce, advertising, and partnerships from these major players.

The way advertisers think about TV is changing as it shifts from linear to ad-supported streaming. Here are three developments shaping TV ad measurement, streaming behaviors, and consumer targeting.