Alphabet's stock took a hit after the company announced plans to increase capital spending by $15 billion in 2024, bringing total CapEx to the $195 billion to $205 billion range. Investors expressed frustration over a lack of clarity on how AI spending would translate to revenue.

This benchmark covers how ad buyers can calibrate their search ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how publishers and solution providers can assess whether their ad revenues align with industry trends.​

Its automated insights can help marketers act faster, but it also raises the stakes for maintaining an independent view.

AI answers now drive more brand searches: Marketers should watch citation share and search lift, not just page views.

Google beats Q2 expectations as AI spend accelerates: Marketers should expect Google's ad products to become more automated as AI spending continues.

In May, Google unveiled its most significant search redesign in 25 years: an intelligent search box that expands for longer queries and accepts multimodal inputs including videos, pictures, and files. The redesign is Google's bid to hold its dominant position as AI-powered search alternatives gain traction. "This is how Google wins," said our analyst Nate Elliott on a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers." "Google wins in AI by convincing people that they don't need to go to a different place to get AI answers."

Cloudflare challenges Google: New crawler defaults give publishers more control over AI scraping and could prompt Google to split search and AI crawling.

While most marketing leaders know AI-driven discovery is reshaping how consumers find brands, almost none of them have built the infrastructure for it. They know a partner is driving discovery. Their systems cannot pay for it. From a partner's perspective, those two positions look identical.

Media consumption is climbing again after years of slower growth, thanks partly to genAI. New forecasts reveal how AI, streaming video, live sports, and converged TV are reshaping how US adults spend their time—and driving more screen time in the process.

Ad market gets a boost, per WPP: AI investment fuels brighter ad forecasts, but marketers still need contingency plans for geopolitical flare-ups.

AI search ads are racing ahead: Spending is set to exceed $101 billion by 2030, even as marketers grapple with sparse performance data.

AI Overviews answer many health questions directly, forcing online health brands to offer expertise and utility that users can’t skip.

YouTube's share of US grocery purchase-intent clicks rocketed from 2.2% to 55.2% YoY, vaulting it from last place to first among social platforms, according to first-quarter data from MikMak.

Chatbots now steer patient choice, surfacing providers with rich, accurate site data.

Search profiles open in the US: Google courts top creators with feature profiles in Discover as AI answers dent traffic and ad economics.

HealthlineAI offers pharma marketers a new way to reach high-intent patients. But it must contend with consumers going to general-purpose chatbots for health info.

Amazon's rapid expansion into artificial intelligence, advertising, and supply chain services is prompting analysts to reconsider what kind of company it has become, even as its core retail operations continue to fuel growth across all divisions. "Is Amazon even a retailer anymore?" said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers." "It started as a bookstore. It turned into a marketplace. Then it became AWS, and then they started selling their fulfillment services, and then advertising, and now they're making AI chips."

AI is reshaping search faster than AI platforms can build their ad offerings, which is why most spending still sits beside AI-generated results. Conversational search ads will grow quickly and chatbot ads will struggle to prove their effectiveness.

AI usage is becoming habitual as a broader range of people adopt AI for a broader set of use cases. Google’s lead in traditional search has given it the platform to take leadership in AI users next year, even as OpenAI still commands deeper engagement.

YouTube upends purchase intent for grocery ads: Its share of intent clicks skyrocketed from 2.2% to 55.2%, reversing Meta’s dominance.