Commerce media is pushing brands to break down internal silos and rethink how they organize teams, allocate budgets, and measure success across an increasingly fragmented ecosystem.

US CPG advertisers are expected to spend nearly $59 billion on ads in 2026, according to an EMARKETER forecast. How that budget gets activated across retail media networks matters more than ever as brands navigate fragmentation, demand better measurement, and push for industry standardization.

Commerce media spending is projected to surpass $80 billion in the US this year, according to EMARKETER’s forecast, but not every network is winning buyers’ trust equally. “Trust is earned campaign by campaign, and even the earned have to keep earning it," said Rob Rubin, head of EMARKETER Advisory, at EMARKETER’s Ad Buyer Strategies Summit. He shared findings from a new survey of 231 senior ad buyers collectively responsible for more than $8 billion in commerce media spend.