Uber is expanding premium storytelling through Journey Takeovers, which turn entire rides into narrative canvases—and delivering unusually long, high-quality attention.

40% of global consumers say they’ve gone out of their way to spend less on US products in response to tariffs, with Canadian consumers leading the way, based on July data from Morning Consult.

The news: Zip’s total transaction volume (TTV) spiked 30.3% YoY in fiscal 2025 (ended June 30, 2025), driven by momentum in its US business. Cash before taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBTDA) more than doubled YoY to AUD 170.3 million ($109.38 million), a 147% increase. Total transaction value hit AUD 13.1 billion ($8.42 billion). Transaction volume was up 22.1% YoY to 93 million. Net bad debts decreased YoY to 1.5% of TTV, down from 1.7% in FY24. Our take: Zip’s year-end results reflect the spending strength of US consumers. We forecast US total retail sales to hit $7.513.38 trillion for 2025. By comparison, Zip’s native Australia is only anticipated to crack $356.49 billion in total retail sales this year.

The news: Klarna and Afterpay will not share the majority of their consumers’ loan information with credit bureaus until they can receive confirmation that their customers will not be penalized for seeking buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans. Our take: Affirm’s early plunge into credit reporting has been blunted against its competitors’ refusal to participate in the system, but it still takes the reputational lead in terms of being a “trustworthy” provider.

The trend: Instagram is gaining momentum across Asia-Pacific, fueled by India’s 2020 TikTok ban and a projected 10% user growth in that market for 2025. Japan’s forecast has also climbed, with 44.4 million users expected next year. Our take: Instagram’s rise isn’t just reactive—it’s a sign of strong localization and feature depth. With TikTok facing stricter laws in Australia and Southeast Asia, Instagram’s Reels and group-channel tools position it as the more stable, advertiser-friendly option. Brands targeting APAC should reevaluate platform strategies as Instagram captures more of the region’s fast-changing digital attention.

Gen Z defines social winners in Asia-Pacific: Snapchat slows in India while TikTok expands in Indonesia and Singapore.

In our exclusive survey with ESW, data from shoppers in 18 countries reveals new twists in the path to purchase, the rising momentum of marketplaces, and the resilience of age-old fundamentals.

OTT video is popular whether it’s free or paid. Every global region and country we track is engaged with these platforms, some very deeply. But new viewers will be hard to find.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss which group of folks ChatGPT will affect the most next year, a social media ban for young people in Australia, how the “snippet generation” are influencing our world, what to make of this new group of “subscription pausers,” movie theatre etiquette around throwing popcorn, and more. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Analysts Ross Benes and Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, and Vice President of Content Paul Verna.

Meta to end News Tab in US, Australia as it focuses on video content: The shift reflects changing digital media consumption patterns.

Our debut worldwide digital gamer forecast reveals that growth has slowed considerably, mainly because gaming is already a common and popular activity for internet users in almost every country. But some markets are more enthusiastic than others.

The big tech is diving deeper into payments to tap new revenue streams.

There’s often a perception that markets in Asia developed digital offerings far faster than the US and Europe—that’s only partially true in retail.

Canada ramps up 5G security: Huawei and ZTE solutions are banned. Critics say the move comes a little too late as telecoms bear the burden of replacing without disruption by June 2024.

Payments Ecosystem: Diminishing analog payment use—as well as the battle for share between entrenched electronic payment methods and emerging challengers—will intensify the battle for customer spending this year.

Aussies love their social commerce! Or so it would seem, based on eMarketer’s inaugural forecast for social buying in Australia.

eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin discusses whether major marketers will pull spending on social platforms because of brand safety and ethical concerns, what to make of Facebook's new advertiser “topic exclusion controls” test, and the types of content consumers prefer brands avoid the most. She then talks about tech companies introducing rules that favor their own business models, Facebook's relationship with political content, and whether Google is waving goodbye to Australia.

eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom and vice president of content studio Paul Verna discuss the details of the new short-form video platform Quibi. They then talk about Australia suing Facebook, Amazon selling its cashierless technology to other retailers and Postmates new "non-contact" food delivery option.

Total media ad spending worldwide will reach $628.63 billion in 2018, a 7.4% gain over last year. Mobile advertising’s share of spend is expected to climb to 29.2% this year.