Retail media networks (RMNs) have built out social and creator offerings, but advertisers have not widely adopted them. To attract spend, RMNs must prove that their offer of better targeting and measurement outweighs the added cost and complexity.

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss the evolving definition of affiliate marketing, the most interesting areas of the space today, and how improvements in measurement have helped position affiliate as a channel that marketers can confidently invest in. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Analyst Max Willens, AWIN President of North America Adam Weiss, and Higher Dose Chief Marketing and Commercialization Officer Ingrid Milman Cordy. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.

Google beats Q2 expectations as AI spend accelerates: Marketers should expect Google's ad products to become more automated as AI spending continues.

Commerce media has planted deep roots in Spanish-speaking Latin America (SPLA). Between 87% and 94% of marketers in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru surveyed plan to increase their commerce media investment over the next 12 months, according to new research conducted by EMARKETER for Google.

Identity resolution is becoming standard practice for marketers. More than 90% of survey respondents use identifiers, and more than half (54.5%) say they sometimes, often, or almost always work with multiple third-party identifiers, according to a March 2026 survey of 112 US-based agency and marketing professionals by EMARKETER and Acxiom. Eight in 10 respondents say identity resolution has improved marketing ROI. Personalization tops the list of benefits, with 40.2% reporting measurable gains, followed by attribution and measurement (32.1%) and media efficiency (28.6%). This helps explain why 60.7% of marketers expect to increase investment in identity resolution over the next two years.

Uber Ads targets the transaction moment: Deal Drops and Reorder Rewards capture wallet-open intent as commerce media heats up.

Performance marketing is buzzier than ever: Google’s latest attribution partnership is a reflection of a tightening economy for consumers and brands.

Reddit builds a performance case: Beta attribution and unified reporting aim to prove Reddit’s role beyond awareness.

Pinterest turns TV into checkout: Pairing with tvScientific links CTV impressions to conversions, giving brands measurable results beyond reach.

Personalization at scale tops the data activation investment list at 38%, followed closely by real-time campaign optimization (35%) and audience segmentation (32%), according to a December 2025 survey from Supermetrics.

AI is reshaping how consumers discover and choose products, creating a fast-growing new commerce channel with its own set of unique challenges.

AI is reshaping how content is created, scaled, and measured. Output is rising, but as AI scales content production across the market, the competitive advantage compresses—making differentiation, trust, and measurement the new constraints on sustained performance.

Comcast and Adara are linking ad exposure directly to confirmed travel bookings; with this move, TV and streaming are moving closer to performance accountability.

"The Super Bowl has grown from a football game into one of the biggest cultural moments for brands," said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian in a recent episode of “Behind the Numbers.” The Super Bowl maintains its advertising relevance in an increasingly fragmented media landscape because it delivers something increasingly rare: A massive, diverse audience engaged in a shared cultural moment.

This FAQ examines how shoppable media works, where consumers engage with it, and how marketers should evaluate these emerging formats.

AI is already disrupting programmatic. Generative search is reshaping web traffic, while agentic buying and curated deals redraw how ads are bought and sold. Expect more automation and more premium pipes, but tougher transparency tradeoffs.

Sam’s Club and BJ’s aim to show that samples and screens drive sales.