The travel industry’s digital ad spending collapsed in 2020, but two years later most of those outlays have returned. The next two years look set for strong growth as well, bucking the trend among other industries.

Google tackles AI’s biggest challenge: Under its Everyday Robots subsidiary, the tech giant is building bots that understand what humans really want. But internet data could steer the project off-course.

Can’t afford a picnic: Microsoft cut contractors, laid off an entire division, and tightened its expense belt. Between gloomy cloud forecasts and regulations, things could get tougher for Big Tech.

In the US, digital retail media and the ecommerce channel are growing faster than any other major ad format except connected TV. This report analyzes our latest retail media forecast and examines the role market uncertainty could play in this space.

Big Tech earnings buoyed by cloud: Microsoft and Alphabet’s quarterly earnings weren’t as bad as expected, boosting market confidence. But continued strength hinges on cloud divisions that aren’t recession-proof.

Google’s Q2 results are a mixed bag: Although expenses grew at a faster rate than revenue, its search advertising business could be stealing advertisers from social platforms like Meta.

Advertisers use a different strategy on YouTube than on other digital video platforms. In Q1 2022, more than 40% of US video ads on the Alphabet-owned platform were post-rolls, and almost 30% were mid-roll ads. On other video platforms, 97% played before video content.

The most serious threat to Google’s ad tech dynasty is regulation. Google has been at the center of countless antitrust lawsuits worldwide, with governing bodies slowly forcing more balance in the advertising marketplace.

Beyond just advertising, Alphabet’s tech touches nearly everything. This report looks at 23 of its most important business areas, examining their maturity, disruption of the market, leverage over partners, integration with other products, and five-year outlook.

A new Frontier for startups: A handful of startups just got funding to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Using carbon as a raw material could help them reach market viability.

$52B chip bill stuck in legislative limbo: The CHIPS for America Act would help offset some of the losses suffered by American chipmakers or allow them to pursue expansion plans.

Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery service is ready for takeoff: But it isn’t clear if the service is ready for primetime.

Big Tech gets corrected: Tech industry stocks have taken a beating so far in 2022, but given the pandemic’s upheaval, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Another reincarnation looms.

Google ravenous for square footage: A leading provider of virtual productivity tools, Google spends big on offices and data centers. But hard times are ahead to keep its workforce intact.

Tide is turning for tech unionization: The rise of digital media alongside a tight labor market, inflation, and wage stagnation prompts news tech workers to organize. How far behind is Big Tech?

Amazon lifts the veil over its advertising business: The retailer’s 2021 ad revenues outpaced YouTube’s and are poised for continued growth.

Meta’s earnings miss shows the vulnerability of its ad revenue model: The company could be in for a $10 billion hit from Apple’s privacy changes, and the rise of TikTok isn’t helping.

There will be 23.6 million YouTube Premium subscribers by the end of the year, which is up a healthy 18% over 2020.

Google exceeds expectations: Based on Tuesday's earnings, we anticipate another upward revision of Google’s ad revenues in our US digital ad spending report, out this fall.