Media consumption is climbing again after years of slower growth, thanks partly to genAI. New forecasts reveal how AI, streaming video, live sports, and converged TV are reshaping how US adults spend their time—and driving more screen time in the process.

Meta’s spotlights AI at Cannes: The company is leveraging its scale to advance automated ads, but marketers still need strong creative and clear guardrails.

Digital commerce platforms' payment offerings are growing faster than their core ecommerce businesses, making them crucial revenue and merchant retention drivers. But to stay competitive, platforms must evolve their payment capabilities to keep pace with AI, social commerce, and a shifting economy.

Gen Alpha is entering its teen years just as scrutiny of social media intensifies. Their habits are taking shape amid new rules, safety concerns, and shifting expectations. And that’s creating fresh challenges for platforms, parents, and marketers.

Canada’s social media audience is spreading across a wider mix of networks. Generational differences are reshaping where brands find reach, relevance, and momentum.

CTV has sizable and growing media time in Canada, but ad spending still lags. As viewing habits shift across digital channels, marketers face growing pressure to realign budgets before attention moves further ahead of investment.

Social media nears half of digital ad revenues: Platforms will take 44% of online ads by 2030, hitting $640 billion as AI tools and short video lure budgets.

TikTok courts microdrama creators: Sundance tie-up trains short-form storytellers as brands eye booming, ad-ready series.

Cyclical political ad spending is surging again, and midterms are no longer much of a step down from presidential cycles. Broadcast TV still dominates campaigns, but CTV is reshaping political advertising faster than any other channel.

Meta turns Reels into series: A new feature tests episodic Reels, aiming to convert scroll-by views into repeat visits and deeper ad value.

Meta widens teen guardrails: Global safety rollout and content caps aim to address legal blows and calm wary regulators.

Influencers and content creators in China and India have a larger impact on the shopper journey than those in Western markets. But their influence varies across Asia-Pacific markets, with Japan and Australia aligning more closely with Western norms.

Exclusive survey data reveals how the path to purchase for online food delivery from restaurants is evolving across Latin America, highlighting shifting consumer behavior, key players, and the trends shaping the regional market in 2026.

What Meta’s latest social-media-addiction loss means: SCOTUS’ refusal to hear Meta’s appeal sets the stage for a paradigm shift.

After years of uncertainty, TikTok is regaining momentum with efforts in commerce, creators, and entertainment. But rising competition, regulatory pressure, and changing user behavior threaten its next phase of growth.

Singles Day began as a prank at a Chinese university in 1993, when students created an "anti-Valentine's Day" to celebrate being single. Alibaba transformed it into a shopping holiday in 2009, and it has since become the world's largest retail event, complete with Taylor Swift performing at the 2019 Singles Day Gala.

Meta builds creator cadence: New planner and bulk Reels tools steer creators toward steady, original output at scale.

Snapchat courts creators: A new study touts deeper fan ties and longer ad views, but influencer spending still trails rivals by billions.

This is the latest installment of our “UK Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.​