US toy and hobby retail sales will grow steadily through 2030, but the real momentum is online. Ecommerce growth will outpace the retail market as its role in the category continues to expand.

Q1 results show how the largest ad companies are weathering uncertainty around the Iran war and AI spending

As ecommerce scales, online returns are becoming a permanent margin drag. Fees and tighter policies can shift consumer behavior but put sales and loyalty at risk, forcing retailers to balance cost control with convenience expectations.

More curated results could shorten the path to purchase, but ad dollars and consumer trust hang in the balance.

Retail media is concentrating as a scaled second tier takes shape and the long tail slips further behind. Growth will persist, but the hierarchy is sharpening, raising the stakes for how networks compete and where advertisers place bets.

A rebound year is taking shape in Canada’s ad market. Growth is shifting toward CTV, retail media, and social. But tighter budgets and economic pressure are forcing advertisers to rethink channel mix and performance priorities.

Ads fund the backbone: Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft use over $160 billion in quarterly ads to help finance AI scale—and fortify their edge.

"Marketing is less about persuasion now, it's more about participation," said Justin Breton, head of partnerships, content and emerging experiences at Walmart, at the IAB Connected Commerce Summit last month. "How do you actually get consumers to participate with your brand?"

AI is rewriting the digital shelf. As discovery shrinks to a handful of recommendations, brands are forced to optimize for both humans and machines or risk disappearing early in the purchase journey.

Roku’s ad engine hums: Q1 ad revenues jumped 27% as 38.7 billion streaming hours and premium CTV formats helped pull marketers from linear TV.

Creator content is shaping how AI answers questions. But content that’s good at engaging audiences isn’t always what AI surfaces. That’s forcing brands to rethink their creator strategies and content formats so they can show up in AI tools.

Amazon’s AI ad engine: Q1 ad sales rose 24% to $17.2 billion as automation and first-party data power full-funnel buys.

Ad spending will surge in 2026 as AI-driven gains and a packed events calendar offset mounting economic strain. Social will lead the way as Meta overtakes Google in net revenues and the wider ad industry closes in on the half-trillion-dollar milestone.

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss why we think Meta will surpass Google to become the world’s leading digital advertising business this year, whether Google can wrestle back control in the following years, and how close Amazon is to getting a shot at the title. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Senior Forecasting Analysts Zach Goldner and Drew Spink. Listen anywhere, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.

Mexico will be among the world’s fastest-growing retail ecommerce markets over the next two years. Despite the Mercado Libre–Amazon duopoly, more than half of the market remains in play, leaving other retailers with a multibillion-dollar opportunity.

Amazon aims to turn GLP-1 demand into a funnel for One Medical, though limiting new prescriptions to members softens the competitive threat to other telehealth players.

Energy drink brand Accelerator Active Energy believes their history with athlete creators gives them a competitive edge in connecting with fans.

Brazil will be the fifth-fastest-growing retail ecommerce market worldwide over the next two years. Mercado Livre will capture most of the gains, but smaller local and international retailers still have a multibillion-dollar opportunity.

Meta cuts staff as AI automates ads: A 10% reduction tied to AI tools pushes marketers to prioritize outcomes over targeting.

Ten charts reveal where digital markets are headed as AI shapes ad trends, social and retail media take a bigger share of ad spend, and consumer adoption of AI-driven buying influences ecommerce growth.