Oracle surged 6% amid AI collaboration news. Apple, SpaceX, and Microsoft align with government priorities, leveraging investments for strategic gains.

In 2025, there will be a stronger focus on performance marketing as advertisers seek to prove their efforts are worth the investment.

Amazon scores a win with “Beast Games”: The reality series from controversial YouTuber MrBeast attracted 50 million viewers.

A lot can happen in a week. Rue21’s customer overlap with TikTok Shop could position the brand to benefit from a potential TikTok ban. Meanwhile, Gen Z consumers are increasingly choosing alcohol-free lifestyles, reflecting health-conscious preferences. Cost-consciousness drives brand switching, but convenience remains key in purchase decisions. Here are five stats that caught our eye this week.

Job cuts at Meta and Microsoft could strain remaining workers as companies shift focus to AI amid changing corporate and political dynamics.

Amazon faces technical and factual challenges as it transforms Alexa into an advanced AI agent, delaying progress and risking its market relevance.

Currys expands retail media network into stores: The electronics retailer is betting that its unique access to 80% of UK households and extensive network of digital screens will appeal to advertisers.

TikTok Shop’s demise could benefit Amazon, Etsy, and Temu: All three retailers are poised to scoop up spending in the event of a TikTok ban.

NBC launches early NBA campaign: $2.4 billion annual rights deal includes WNBA games, Peacock exclusives, and 'Sunday Night Basketball' debut in 2026.

Temu tests search ads in latest attempt to chip away at Amazon’s dominance: The lucrative revenue opportunity could offset rising costs related to de minimis crackdowns and tariffs.

In today’s episode of The Banking & Payments Show podcast, we talk about who the BaaS compliance crackdown will hit the most, why Walmart and Amazon will pilot pay-by-bank at checkout in 2025, and how consumer privacy will change under a second Trump administration. Join the discussion with host and Head of Business Development, Rob Rubin, and Principal Analysts Tiffani Montez and David Morris.

Amazon’s new Retail Ad Service, announced last week, is certainly the biggest retail media news of the year so far. In offering its ad-tech to power other retailers' media networks (RMNs), Amazon could disrupt how retail media operates for retailers, advertisers, vendors, and consumers alike.

Meta, Amazon join list of companies ditching DEI efforts: Evidence shows consumers reward commitment to social causes, but companies are making political calculations.

US paid retail membership fee revenues will be higher than ever before in 2025, reaching $46.39 billion, according to our May 2024 forecast. That’s an increase of 10.8% YoY, with over half (51.8%) of these revenues going to Amazon.

Beauty’s run of strong retail sales growth is winding down, but new audiences and sales channels will offer opportunities for savvy brands and retailers to regain momentum.

But the solution may struggle to gain traction given consumers’ unreadiness to adopt the technology

The National Retail Federation (NRF)’s Big Show is happening in New York City this weekend, and will offer an opportunity for retail media networks (RMNs) to pitch themselves to advertisers. Even though retail media is huge—exceeding $62 billion in US ad spend this year per our forecast, most of those ad dollars will go to the biggest RMNs. The remaining players are vying over the same $8.58 billion that isn't scooped up by Amazon, Walmart, or Target.

Growth rates will decline, but digital grocery will remain a key focus for retailers looking to drive incremental sales dollars in ecommerce.

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.

The loss of TikTok in the US would cause a ripple effect across the media, marketing, and commerce landscape. Meta and YouTube stand to gain the most, but there is a long list of other winners—and losers.