"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.

The fourth annual Summer Beauty Sale is set to strengthen its category influence.

A divide between discretionary and essentials leaves rivals to compete on convenience or discovery.

Retail media is reshaping search advertising. Costs are rising unevenly while performance gaps widen, forcing advertisers to rethink where spend delivers real results as traditional search dominance fades.

Protest over changes to the retailer’s ad payment policies lay bare merchants’ growing cash flow struggles.

Latin America will be the fastest-growing retail ecommerce market over the next two years. Mercado Libre will capture most of the gains, but smaller players still have a multibillion-dollar opportunity.

Social platforms want a bigger role in search ad budgets, but user habits lag behind. As search expands beyond traditional engines, these platforms must turn occasional behavior into intent-driven activity to grab ad dollars.

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss: What if Meta keeps losing all these lawsuits? What if Meta bought Roku? What if Amazon’s new smartphone is a hit?