Traditional prompt-driven AI is giving way to agentic AI, which consists of autonomous agents capable of independently performing tasks, making real-time decisions, and learning from experience. Though it’s still in its early phases, agentic AI enables marketers to enhance operational efficiency, personalize customer interactions, and drive innovation.

OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank’s mega-investment in US data centers could fuel AI’s growth. However, soaring energy and water demands may slow the pace.

While Google faces mounting pressure from Bing’s ChatGPT integration and other generative AI (genAI) search platforms, degradation of its own search results, including those shown in its AI Overviews, could be exacerbating migration away from Google.

MFA sites still plague open web exchanges: AI allows bad actors to rapidly produce fraudulent websites and use bots to drum up fake pageviews, muddying the ad ecosystem.

OpenAI and Axios partner up: The AI firm will fund four local newsrooms in exchange for access to the publisher’s material.

Marketers are under pressure to deliver seamless customer experiences across fragmented channels while addressing data deprecation and personalization demands. Strategies like mobile-first approaches and AI-driven personalization are opening new opportunities.

High-quality visuals or graphics would be the highest factor for AI-generated ads to grab the attention of both millennials (45%) and Gen Zers (50%), according to an October survey from Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Sonata Insights. While celebrity or influencer endorsements would be the least effective way to get millennials (12%) and Gen Zers (17%) to take note.

This year's Consumer Entertainment Show (CES) featured a number of innovations targeted at retailers and the rapidly growing category of retail media. From innovations in shoppable TV to the expansion of AI usage, here are some prominent retail products found at CES 2025.

Investor enthusiasm, AI tie-ups stand out at JP Morgan Healthcare Conference: We expect future investment activity to be driven by the AI arms race taking place across the healthcare and pharma industries.

Biden’s proposal to restrict AI chip exports to 120 countries faces backlash from Nvidia, which says the policy risks stifling innovation and harming economic growth.

As Microsoft increases 365 prices in six countries, limited Copilot value and opaque pricing strategies could trigger antitrust concerns and drive users to cheaper tools.

Providers are leaning on AI to stop bad actors while also maintaining an easy and quick checkout process

EMARKETER

The technology will improve banks’ customer service and help them deliver more personalized interactions.

Customer data collection, the dawn of retail media, and AI-assisted shopping has upended a retail industry already in the midst of a big-box transformation at the tail end of the 20th century. And then there is one of the biggest elephants in the room: Amazon. Here are some of the most impactful changes that marketing leaders have seen over the last 25 years.

In 2025, digital advertising will be shaped by connected (CTV) consolidation, stricter data privacy measures, and AI-driven marketing. CTV growth may spark mergers, while privacy regulations push brands to rely on first-party data. AI will continue to enhance campaign performance and creativity, transforming how marketers engage audiences.

In the last 12 months cookies got a stay of execution, TikTok did not (yet), AI exploded, and viral content cluttered our feeds. So much happened in marketing in 2024, it can be difficult to cut through the noise and take stock of what to focus on in 2025.

On today’s podcast, we discuss the EMARKETER report, 9 Pivotal Shifts in AI, Regulation, and Advertising That Will Change the Business Landscape. Our analysts will compete in the Great Behind The Numbers Take Off – Top Trends edition, borrowing from the television show, The Great British Bake Off. In the Take Off, we will talk in-depth about how retail media, social and AI will undercut traditional search and will governments protect children from digital ad giants. Listen to the conversation with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, and Analyst Bill Fisher. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Last year, marketers' priorities included navigating a rising connected TV (CTV) landscape, using AI to optimize budgets, and questioning whether traditional measurement strategies like last-click attribution could use improvement.

Marketing has dramatically changed over the first quarter of the 21st century. The rise of digital, hyper-specific targeting, connected TV(CTV), and real-time advertising marketplaces are just a few of the trends that have made the marketing industry almost unrecognizable to what it was at the beginning of 2000.