Ad spend across digital channels has been mixed so far this year, with spend on social networks slowing and connected TV spend boosted by new ad-supported subscription tiers. Meanwhile, retail media is diversifying at a rapid rate as nonendemic retailers get in the game

Roku and Shopify team up on shoppable ads: Viewers will be able to purchase items from Shopify merchants directly from their TVs.

CTV ad spending is expanding because more services have adopted ads, streaming services have increased their ad loads, and people continue to spend more time streaming. Not too long ago, HBO, Netflix, and Disney+ featured no advertising. Now they all have ads. And some of the most popular ad-supported streamers, like Hulu, have increased their ad loads in recent years.

Smart TVs are used by 61.9% of US connected TV (CTV) households, making them the top CTV device by far, per Comscore CTV Intelligence. In second and third place are Amazon Fire TV (29.1%) and Roku (28.4%), respectively.

As the retail media industry evolves, marketers are embracing new formats such as open web, social media, and streaming TV to reach customers earlier in their buying journey and increase brand recognition. To accomplish this, we’ll see retailers form collaborative alliances with social media companies, streaming platforms, and publishers.

Connected TV's ascendancy: GroupM's mid-year forecast points to a significant surge in CTV advertising, signaling a pivotal shift in media consumption and ad strategies.

Disintermediation is getting real, upfront advertisers want their programmatic CTV spending accounted for, and Google shares early results from the Privacy Sandbox.

Retail media is moving from its initial state (search and on-site display ads) up the funnel toward social, open web, and connected TV. As retail media networks move into their next era, they should leverage partnerships to explore new channels, said Evan Hovorka, vice president of product and innovation at Albertsons Media Collective.

The UK ad market is under as much pressure as it’s ever faced. But while spending growth will hit a historical low, there are some positive signs for advertisers with experimentation away from the duopoly a very real possibility.

TikTok is launching ad product Pulse Premiere, an extension of Pulse that allows publishers like Condé Nast, Buzzfeed, and NBC to make money off of ads featured by all of their own content, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new product is part of TikTok’s efforts to make the platform more appealing to publishers, even as risks of a US ban loom.

The way advertisers think about TV is changing as it shifts from linear to ad-supported streaming. Here are three developments shaping TV ad measurement, streaming behaviors, and consumer targeting.

While marketers still view TV as a unique brand-building vehicle, they’re also coming to understand the possibilities that connected TV (CTV) offers. In fact, 52% of marketers currently use CTV for performance marketing with the aim of generating measurable web visits, conversions, and revenues, according to MNTN research.

UK consumers have a voracious appetite for digital video content, but the cost-of-living crisis is boosting ad-supported options, particularly broadcaster video-on-demand services. Netflix’s pivot to an ad tier, meanwhile, may have legs.

Despite a surge in ads, connected TV (CTV) faces the same challenge as traditional TV: getting consumers’ attention. Our analyst Paul Verna shares why co-viewing won’t hurt CTV’s targeting abilities and how too much repetition may make ads ineffective.

Retailers and the tech firms powering some of their RMNs are racing to give ad buyers access to more off-site inventory in formats ranging from CTV to digital out-of-home to in-store. But on-site has plenty of headroom left, as this new data from our forecast shows.

On today's episode, we discuss whether watching TV with other people ruins the potential of targeted connected TV (CTV) ads, who's winning the CTV advertising race, and how CTV stacks up against traditional TV ad spending. "In Other News," we talk about Netflix's road map for video games and what to make of its 1 million user milestone for its ad tier. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Paul Verna.

On today's episode, we discuss why Disney+ lost around 3 million subscribers, how much its new ad-supported tier can move the needle, and whether The Walt Disney Co. is more likely to buy the rest of—or sell—Hulu. "In Other News," we talk about how connected TV (CTV) viewers feel about "enhanced" ad formats and what a new category of video called "accompanying in-stream" is all about. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Paul Verna.

The “TikTok generation” transcends Gen Z, according to our first forecast for time spent on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat broken down by age. We reveal what that means for these social platforms and how video advertisers can maximize their investments.

There’s no stopping the retail media juggernaut. At $45.05 billion in US spending in 2023, it’s already far ahead of connected TV and closing in on traditional TV.

Facing signal loss and challenging macroeconomic conditions, advertisers are pumping the brakes on social network ad spending. But social video is shining through the gloom.