US retail digital ad spend will grow 14.2% next year to reach $84.00 billion, or 28.6% of total digital ad spend, per our forecast.

US omnichannel retail media ad spend will increase by 22.6% next year for a total of $55.64 billion. One thing that could unlock spend even further? Standardization.

As the DOJ’s antitrust trial over Google Search continues, the ad giant could be at real risk of having to alter its search business. “The DOJ has a really strong case here,” said our analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf on our “Behind the Numbers” podcast. “It's not looking great for Google.”

Microsoft’s new ad network helps retailers build and maintain their own media networks, boasting “ready-built demand, expansive ad supply, and access to high-intent shoppers.” Using Microsoft’s new product can help retailers reach profitability, according to the software company.

Retail media networks may be working on standardization, but a universal measurement system is still a dream. Aside from a sluggish move toward standardization, here are four predictions about the future of retail media networks our analysts gave on our “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast.

Travel will see the fastest growth in US digital ad spending of any industry in 2023, according to our forecast. Travel, retail, healthcare and pharma, automotive, and entertainment will outpace the national digital ad spending growth rate.

YouTube will hit $7.36 billion in US ad revenues this year, per our forecast, compared with TikTok’s $6.19 billion. YouTube will have 236.1 million US users this year compared with TikTok’s 102.3 million.

Key stat: $6.19 billion (9.0% of US social media ad spend) will go to TikTok this year, according to our forecast. Marketers need to make sure they’re putting their TikTok budget to good use by choosing the right ad types for the right activations. Here’s an overview of in-feed versus Spark Ads on TikTok.

Retail media is outpacing non-retail media in growth in US search ad spend. As performance-driven advertisers push closer to the point of sale, companies like Amazon benefit. Here’s what’s behind retail media’s search success.

US TV ad spend will fall 8% this year, per our forecast. Its share of total media ad spend is also in decline as marketers turn to faster-growing formats such as connected TV (CTV) and retail media.

Digital ad spend worldwide will hit $601.84 billion this year, up 9.5% from $549.51 billion in 2022, according to our forecast.

After 11 months of US ad declines, Standard Media's US Ad Market Tracker showed 2.5% growth in May, signaling a potential rebound. Even with mixed signals and uncertainties, there is at last a sign of hope, our analyst Paul Verna said on a recent episode of “Behind the Numbers.”

In the first half of 2023, connected devices became more shoppable, driven by retail media and emerging technologies like visual search, while Apple has emerged as a big winner, using its domination in the smartphone market to muscle in on ad revenues.

Ads encourage engagement, but your post-click experience determines who will ultimately be your customers. Here is how your brand can pair creative ads with interactive landing pages to improve engagement and the likelihood of conversions.

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.

The battle against TikTok took center stage at this week’s NewFronts, as Meta, Snapchat, and YouTube unveiled new ad products tied to short-form video. While none of them can compete with TikTok’s lock on the youth market or the enormous amount of time its users spend on the app, these new ad products are an attempt to bring Reels, Spotlight, and Shorts into greater parity with TikTok’s ad formats.

Concerns surrounding privacy are high, which could weigh on marketers’ efforts to target consumers. US adults under 30 are slightly less concerned (66%) than older consumers about the use of personal information for targeted digital ads, according to the Out of Home Advertising Association of America and Morning Consult.

Retail media will stay ahead of connected TV (CTV) in US ad spending and close in on traditional TV this year, according to our forecast. Search overall, including paid search on retail media networks, will reach $108.48 billion in 2023.

Fifty-six percent of marketers in North America said that in-depth analytics drives their data clean room strategies, according to the CMO Council. Other leading drivers included the ability to measure campaign results (54%) and ease of data integration (52%).

By 2026, US spending on ecommerce channel ads—a large subset of retail media—will be more than triple its 2020 level, per our forecast. Within the ecommerce channel, both search and display advertising are growing rapidly.