Pinterest launches AI-powered tools: Advertisers can now create engaging visuals and reduce costs, aligning with industry-wide shifts toward generative AI solutions.

Instagram’s value wanes for publishers: Ad spend and content posting drop as WhatsApp Channels gains traction for direct audience engagement.

Looma secures $10 million to expand its in-store media platform: Funding reflects broader industry shift toward in-store retail media as brands seek dynamic in-store engagement.

Search, social, and customer ratings and reviews are the most influential channels for driving foot traffic and sales, according to SOCi’s Local Visibility Index 2024.

Consumers may be concerned about the economy, but the outlook is good for ad spend in the final months of 2024. The share of advertisers concerned about a slowing US economy dropped 11 percentage points (from 49% to 38%) between November 2023 and August 2024, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Retail media’s popularity, an influx of value-based messaging, high political ad spend, and connected TV (CTV) monetization will boost the ad industry the rest of 2024.

Ad spend continues to grow faster than the GDP, fueled in no small part by connected TV (CTV), retail media, social media, and search.

The first $12 billion ad spend US presidential election is underway. That ad spend figure breaks 2020’s by more than $2 billion. Whether or not brands engage in political messaging, they will be impacted by the volume of ad inventory and how the election influences consumer sentiment.

Digital ad spend grows in Q2 2024, says Skai: Retail media leads with 21% YoY increase, despite higher CPC and CPM across channels.

New NBA broadcasting deals with NBC and Amazon: These partnerships, pending approval, are set to enhance live sports accessibility and boost advertising revenue.

TikTok’s top brands pulled back spending after ban signing: Ad spend growth slowed in the month after the ban was signed, and major retailers like Target reduced spend.

Out-of-home (OOH) campaigns in big cities need diversity in OOH formats so more of the target audience sees the ads without advertisers necessarily spending more, according to Brian Rappaport, CEO of OOH agency Quan Media Group.

Digital ad spend by the US travel industry will grow by 14.3% this year for a total of $6.79 billion, according to our forecast.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how affiliate is helping marketers take back control of their ad spend. "In Other News," we talk about Amazon unveiling a smarter, more conversational, Alexa and TikTok Shop hitting the US. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Max Willens and Alexandra Forsch, president of Awin Americas.

TikTok Shop became available across the US last week. The social video platform has a lot to gain in retail and ad revenues, but it risks facing the same challenges Meta has had with social commerce on Instagram—users' reluctance to actually complete purchases in app. But with sister app Douyin setting the blueprint for TikTok’s social commerce endeavors, the platform isn’t starting from scratch. Here’s a look at TikTok’s social commerce strategy and potential in five charts.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how advertisers should adjust their plans based on social video time's slowing growth, whether people will spend more social media time on connected TVs, and the ratio between ad spend and time spent on social networks. "In Other News," we talk about whether TikTok can become a more traditional social network and getting paid to watch ads on a new socially conscious social media app. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

The largest share of US programmatic out-of-home (OOH) ad spend went to billboards (41%) in H1 of this year, followed by screens and TVs (24%) and display panels (14%), according to Place Exchange.

With the anticipated growth of Prime Day sales, retail media spending will balloon as Amazon retailers invest in marketplace ads to capture more attention during the event.

Baby boomers make up the largest share of TV viewers, while 25- to 34-year-olds predominate CTV usage. Marketers increasingly plan their buys across these mediums to achieve their targeting goals.