AI is fundamentally changing how pharma and healthcare marketers can reach consumers. As top companies like Novo Nordisk and Genentech highlighted at CMI Media Groups “Hype to Hope to Health” conference, the focus is shifting from simply getting clicks to driving actual conversions. To succeed, marketers must embrace AI tools for smarter customer targeting and ensure content is original and well-structured. With organic search traffic declining, it's crucial to also invest in new channels like connected TV (CTV), which allows for personalized, data-driven messaging to an aging audience that is rapidly adopting streaming services.

Volvo and Mastercard are trialing the US’s first in-car toll payment pilot program, per a press release from the North Carolina Turnpike Authority. Google will supply payments-enabled in-car infotainment systems for the limited 100 Volvo participants. If E-ZPass payment technology gets shifted onto Google’s platform, E-ZPass Group no longer has to worry about the cost of their transponders and can receive payments automatically for those who don’t have a transponder, instead of waiting for a billing period. If Google becomes a permanent partner for toll payments, the tech mammoth stands to reap the windfall of multi-state toll volumes from certain commuters likely loyal to toll routes.

The digital ad market is shifting fast. In court, Google admitted the “open web is already in rapid decline,” contradicting its public claims, as AI Overviews erode publisher traffic. The Trade Desk’s stock plunged 12% after Netflix’s Amazon DSP deal, with Morgan Stanley citing CTV headwinds and higher fees. Meanwhile, Reddit is positioning itself as a publisher ally, rolling out Reddit Pro to help offset traffic losses from search. Together, these moves underscore a fractured open web ecosystem: Google under pressure, The Trade Desk undercut by Amazon, and Reddit stepping up as publishers seek new discovery sources.

Latin America’s retail media ecosystem is expanding fast as new players, formats, and solutions draw in more ad dollars. But limited self-service offerings and the lack of standardized metrics hinder its full potential.

The Google Pixel could grow to lead the smartphone market as sales surge, highlighting a strong consumer shift toward devices that balance competitive pricing, cutting-edge AI features, and ecosystem flexibility. The Pixel saw a whopping 105% YoY increase in sales in H1 2025, per Counterpoint Research, while overall global premium smartphone sales grew 8% YoY. Pixel’s growth points to an industry pivot where software-driven intelligence, rather than hardware specs alone, lead consumer choice. The smartphone race could move away from who offers the most storage or fastest processors and toward who delivers the most useful tools for daily life.

TikTok shared new data to highlight the potential of its search ads for driving action. TikTok showed that activations with dedicated search campaigns led to 2 times higher purchase lift overall, while enterprise advertisers saw 2.2 times higher purchase lift and higher incremental return on ad spend (ROAS). TikTok’s success with search ads is promising, but advertisers ultimately need answers about the platform’s longevity in its core market. Questions about data security, content moderation, and political pressures are still casting a shadow.

Google and commerce media company Criteo announced an onsite retail media integration on Tuesday, marking the first of its kind for Google and opening opportunities for brands across digital commerce. Criteo and Google’s integration provides clear direction for advertisers struggling to capitalize on retail media’s potential, offering a seamless ecosystem that will connect brands with customers likely to take action.

Netflix and Amazon Ads have struck a global partnership to bring Netflix’s ad inventory to Amazon’s demand-side platform (DSP) across 12 markets, including the US, UK, France, Japan, and Brazil. The move expands Netflix’s programmatic footprint as it aims to nearly double US ad revenues this year and approach $3 billion globally by 2027. For Amazon, adding Netflix strengthens its DSP’s position; the deal underscores a shift toward centralized TV planning, where Amazon’s DSP increasingly serves as the central gateway for connected TV advertising.

AI is rewriting the rules of digital media, advertising, and commerce at breakneck speed. Here’s what players in the digital realm can do to stay relevant.

Ad tech company PubMatic filed a lawsuit Monday against Google for alleged anticompetitive and monopolistic actions in the digital advertising ecosystem. The lawsuit claimed Google took illegal actions that impacted PubMatic and harmed its ability to grow revenues. PubMatic’s lawsuit underscores that structural shifts in ad tech could eventually reshape how advertisers access and value Google’s search inventory and digital ad offerings.

Tariffs and inflation are reshaping retail, pushing shoppers toward value and convenience. Off-price chains gained ground, while housing-linked retailers sought new growth paths in a slowing market.

The news: Apple will reportedly launch an AI-enabled web search tool powered by Google’s Gemini, potentially accelerating long-awaited software improvements and helping Apple enter the AI search race, per Bloomberg. The “answer engine” would be integrated with Siri and could help Apple compete with OpenAI and Perplexity. The feature, internally called World Knowledge Answers, will aggregate information from across the web into AI Overviews-esque summaries. It may eventually be added to Safari and Spotlight. Our take: Apple’s pivot toward external AI partnerships highlights how unready it is to compete head-to-head in foundational AI or search. While a Gemini integration could improve Siri and add powerful search capabilities, it could threaten Apple’s core advantage: total control over the user experience.

The news: AI startup Anthropic raised a staggering $13 billion, tripling its valuation to $183 billion, per CNBC. This momentum is driven by enterprise demand for Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant, and a rapidly expanding customer base that now tops 300,000 businesses. The company’s annual revenues have also jumped fivefold in 2025 to $5 billion. Our take: Anthropic’s ascent is setting a new standard for AI startups—spurring rivals like Perplexity, Mistral, Intelligent Machines, and Safe Superintelligence to chase scale through aggressive fundraising, not quick exits. The message: In this market, go big or get left behind.

Disney will pay $10 million in a settlement after the Federal Trade Commission alleged that the company collected personal information from children on videos uploaded to YouTube. Disney reportedly uploaded child-directed content to YouTube but did not label the videos as “Made for Kids,” allowing young users to be served targeted ads. Information was collected “without parental notice or consent,” the FTC and Justice Department said. Disney’s payout highlights the risks of targeting younger audiences without adequate safeguards—a challenge that will become even more pressing for advertisers as connected TV matures as a channel.

A federal court stopped short of ordering Google to divest Chrome, instead requiring it to end exclusive search contracts and share some index data with competitors. Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling allows Google to keep paying Apple for default placement but bans exclusivity that kept rivals sidelined. Alphabet shares rose 8% after hours, while Apple gained 4%. Google faces six years of oversight but avoids a structural breakup sought by the DOJ. The bigger challenge looms outside the courtroom: AI tools, Reddit, and TikTok are increasingly siphoning queries, while Google’s top-result clickthrough rates continue to slide.

The news: Use of AI search tools is surging, which could soon spell trouble for Google’s market dominance. The share of consumers using of AI search tools on a daily basis doubled to 29% in August, per HigherVisibility’s 2025 How People Search Today report, up from 14% in February. Meanwhile, Google’s share of general information queries fell from 73% to 67%. Our take: Brands and marketers need to tailor their campaigns and strategies based on user intent. Those looking to attract new shoppers should invest in social media and AI search placements, while those focused on driving traffic for services or capturing high-intent buyers should prioritize Google, especially for initial discovery and location-based queries.

Meta will allow advertisers to exclude specific words or phrases from AI-generated ad copy to protect and align with brand image as it accelerates its AI advertising push. While barriers to adoption remain, Meta’s continued push toward AI ad automation signals where the future of advertising is heading: One where AI will increasingly balance scale with control to give marketers confidence in experimenting with automated campaigns.

Voice assistants will add nearly 30 million US users between 2022 and 2029, fueled by genAI, demographic shifts, and new hardware. Key adoption trends, platform battles, and marketing opportunities are shaping the next era of voice technology.

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

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