Google’s latest AI tools let users buy via chat as the company tries to turn its search dominance into agentic commerce gains.

Gmail is getting its own agentic AI, signaling that email marketing could undergo a major shift if users bite on the feature.

As genAI assistants play a more prominent role in shopping, retailers and brands will have to rethink how their loyalty programs support direct consumer relationships, and how loyalty benefits can be surfaced in AI conversations.

Our analysts (or “bakers”) compete in a Great British Bake Off–style episode, discussing why Google may overtake OpenAI in 2026 and how the AI boom could get a reality check this year. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Principal Analyst Nate Elliot and Analyst Jacob Bourne. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

ChatGPT Health lets users upload medical data for personalized wellness advice—a feature likely to gain traction as folks trade in data privacy for AI-powered health insights.

OpenAI seeks real consumer intent, and a potential Pinterest acquisition would give OpenAI first-party shopping signals and native ad infrastructure to rival Google and Meta.

Email’s reliability is no longer enough to offset rising consumer expectations. AI accelerates production and enhances relevance, while engagement, trust, and tougher inbox rules push marketers to rethink how they will use the channel in 2026.

In a year marked by platform volatility, AI acceleration, tariff shocks, and shifting consumer behavior, marketers searched for clarity across EMARKETER’s most-read topics. The top 10 themes reflect where advertiser attention truly moved in 2025. These trends captured the forces reshaping performance, discovery, and measurement: AI-driven optimization, creator-centric social ecosystems, commerce-led advertising, and CTV’s rise as the new premium video default. Together, they tell the story of a market recalibrating around efficiency, accountability, and cultural relevance as marketers prepared their 2026 strategies.

In 2025, retail media found itself at a turning point as networks, advertisers, and platforms pushed into new territory and redefined what the channel could be. Here are five of our top stories from the year, from the challenges of tracking CTV campaigns to the evolving competitive landscape shaped by Amazon, Walmart, and a wave of innovative smaller networks.

The automotive dashboard is evolving into a media hub. By 2029, 203 million connected car drivers will give advertisers access to captive audiences through AI commerce, in-vehicle ads, charging sessions, and rideshare integrations.

Walmart’s OnePay adopted Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) to drive agentic commerce as a credentialled provider, per a press release. With Chrome remaining consumer’s most popular browser, Gemini is narrowing the gap with ChatGPT as the most used chatbot: We forecast that by 2029, Gemini will hold 53% of genAI market share. That in turn could give Google’s AP2 a large share of agent-driven consumer spend in the long term, as consumers develop loyalty and use patterns around AI platforms.

On today’s EMARKETER Miniseries—AI-Driven Media Management—we explore how to break down the media manager role into workflows that can be automated or augmented by agentic AI, what agencies misunderstand about AI, and which agency tasks are ripest to hand off to AI right now. EMARKETER Senior Director of Content Jeremy Goldman speaks with Adam Epstein, co-founder and CEO of Gigi. Listen everywhere you find podcasts, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

"The retail media landscape is only becoming more crowded, but Target's guest insights are often cited as a key differentiator," said our analyst Sarah Marzano during EMARKETER's recent Commerce Media Summit.

Digital ad spending remains resilient although economic signals are wobbly. AI-driven optimization, richer first-party data, and surging digital video will keep growth strong even as search shifts and traditional budgets fade.

LinkedIn is proving the power of its ad offerings, delivering promising results from both its Reserved Ads format and video ads. Recognizing LinkedIn’s ability to foster measurable ad results will prove valuable for B2B marketers looking to build credibility with other business professionals. Other features, like auto-targeting tools to reach key audiences, AI tools to create ads, and platform recommendations to maximize ROI contribute to LinkedIn’s ability to drive action.

Klarna launched the Agentic Product Protocol, an open standard that makes products on the internet discoverable and understandable by AI agents, per a press release. All payment providers need to meet consumer demand for AI-powered commerce that allows them to save time and money on shopping. However, to speed up adoption of agent-driven checkout, platforms need to ensure safety and privacy with AI agent transactions: 65.5% of US consumers still have misgivings about agent-led payments, per Omnisend.

Consumers are integrating AI into everyday health searches as tools grow more conversational, even though output reliability remains uneven. The balance of speed, accuracy, and trust will shape how people use AI for information and care.

New York has enacted the first US laws requiring disclosure and consent for AI-generated performers and posthumous likenesses in advertising and entertainment. The measures mandate clear labeling when synthetic or digitally altered performers appear onscreen and require approval from estates before deceased individuals’ likenesses are used commercially. The laws sharpen a state–federal divide: President Trump has warned states against AI rules that could hinder US competitiveness, favoring a single national framework instead. For media companies, New York’s move creates immediate compliance obligations—and a preview of regulatory uncertainty ahead.

Amazon's recent business moves, examining corporate layoffs, AI-powered shopping features, and new smart glasses technology for delivery workers paint an interesting view of its immediate future and what it could mean for consumers.

Disney will invest $1 billion in OpenAI and allow Sora users to create short-form videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters. User-generated material opens a new potential spigot of low-cost content for Disney+, which is under increased pressure to compete with YouTube. The move marks a major shift for a conglomerate that has historically held its IP close to the chest.