Gen Z shoppers diverge from the general population in terms of where they find and buy products, consumers are still into influencer-driven ads, and live shopping hasn’t taken off yet. Here are five charts to help elevate your social commerce strategy.

Google continues to lose ground to Amazon: Amazon is holding steady as shoppers’ search engine of choice for products, even as TikTok and other social platforms attract Gen Z consumers.

Fighting ad blockers to preserve revenues: YouTube’s global trial restricting video playback for ad-blocker users also nudges them toward YouTube Premium.

The B2B social media landscape is rapidly evolving thanks to younger buyers and AI. To adapt, marketers need to lean into influencer marketing, have a multichannel approach, and embrace generative AI.

TikTok doggedly pursues ecommerce expansion: The platform inked several deals to help grow its merchant base, but it faces significant obstacles in its path to growth.

Generative AI takes spotlight at VidCon: As new tools debut, attendees express mixed opinions on AI's impact on content creation.

Smart TVs are used by 61.9% of US connected TV (CTV) households, making them the top CTV device by far, per Comscore CTV Intelligence. In second and third place are Amazon Fire TV (29.1%) and Roku (28.4%), respectively.

This report is a guideline to help marketers understand connected TV through market size estimates, growth projections, and analysis of the complex landscape of ad buyers and sellers.

TikTok and Meta continue to diverge on social commerce strategies, Pinterest teams up with Wayfair on a data clean room test, and YouTube introduces unskippable ads.

US linear TV ad spend is shrinking (8.0% YoY) as connected TV (CTV) ad spend grows (21.2% YoY). This year, US CTV ad spend will total $25.09 billion while linear will total $61.31 billion.

Retailers worldwide will spend $4.09 billion advertising on YouTube this year, per WARC Media. Next year, that figure will increase by nearly half a billion to $4.56 billion.

Whether you’re an established brand like Wendy’s or a young D2C building an audience, understanding the right mix between organic and paid social is key, especially as the line between the two blurs. “I think paid is planned paid, and organic has opportunistic pay that could go along with it,” said Jimmy Bennett, vice president and global head of brand engagements and partnerships at Wendy’s.

Total media time is flattening out in the UK after the artificial bump brought about by the pandemic. Video consumption, though, via multiple platforms, is one area where marketers can count on continued consumer engagement.

Connected TV (CTV) ad spend in the US will pass $25 billion this year and continue to grow by double digits through the end of our forecast period in 2027. Even with a challenging market, the format is in decent shape.

Heavy media consumption in Canada across digital and traditional channels has led to a range of effective ad formats for brands.

Our latest forecasts for TV and CTV ad spending, as well as those for time spent with each medium, point to CTV’s inevitable eclipse of its linear counterpart.

BuzzFeed has created a commerce site for its lifestyle brand, Goodful, while Time has launched a platform for product recommendations and reviews. TikTok’s Pulse Premiere program offers publishers 50% of ad revenues and a brand safety guarantee.

Disney says AI could make QR-code shoppable marketing obsolete: At a TV advertising event, Disney and YouTube shared how AI has already changed their strategies.

Google put ads in its Search Generative Experience. YouTube has a new unskippable 30-second ad spot. HBO Max relaunched as Max. And The Kroger Co. is paving the way with in-store retail media. Here are what updates from these companies and more mean for advertisers.

YouTube is positioned to be an advertising powerhouse. It’s one of the original digital video players, courting advertisers at a time when connected TV advertising is climbing. The platform’s Google ties offer it a more trustworthy reputation in the US than TikTok. And use is already extremely high. But YouTube’s high standing also makes growth difficult. Here are five charts summarizing YouTube’s position and potential.