The commerce media space is growing fast, and as it gets more crowded, it’s becoming harder to keep up with the retail media giants. But by teaming up, smaller players can more easily scale their networks to achieve the reach to stay competitive.

A new framework for gaming ads from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) might finally help marketers take full advantage of the highly engaged gamer audience.

Retail and commerce media were huge topics at last year’s Cannes Lions festival, and this year, the festival is doubling down on the channel by introducing a new retail media sub-category in the Media Lions and Creative Commerce Lions awards. However, “the tone is definitely shifting” as the industry matures—and faces the threat of tariff-related impacts, according to our analyst, Sarah Marzano.

The news: The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) gave a glimpse of the TV (CTV) advertising’s future at its IAB Tech Lab event—and proved that pause ads are leading the way. Advertising leaders said they offer the best user experience, were most likely to scale with standardization, and provided the greatest increase in ad spend. Our take: The future of CTV advertising will rely on whether advertisers can implement non-intrusive formats that capture attention. Pause ads are positioned to drive action—but advertisers must reimagine their creative strategy to capitalize on this potential.

There are now more than 80 retail media networks (RMNs) in the US. The volume of RMNs, combined with the dominance of Amazon and other established competitors, makes it challenging for new and niche RMNs to capture share.

Retail media will reach $60.81 billion in 2025—adding more new dollars than Meta and Alphabet combined—and brands now rank incrementality as a top KPI. In this interview, Tinuiti’s Elizabeth Marsten lays out how to prove incremental sales, pick smarter tools, and keep measurement future-ready.

MNTN debuts as a public company with a $1.6 billion valuation: Its performance-focused CTV adtech aims to bring small businesses into streaming.

Attention measurement is maturing: The hotly sought-after metric is getting industry standards thanks to the IAB and MRC.

Insights from IAB NewFronts: Streaming and AI innovation are transforming marketing—but in a period of rapid change and economic unrest, adaptation is key.

Nielsen is sunsetting its legacy panel-only measurement this year. What do advertisers need to know as they prepare to transact on big data-based metrics at scale?

Consumers prefer fewer personalized ads over more generic ads: An IAB Europe report found that personalization works—but transparency is key.

Gaming opportunities for advertisers flourishing: IAB PlayFronts unveiled insights into how marketers can meet gamers where they’re at.

AI is reshaping media campaigns—but most companies haven’t fully integrated it yet, according to the State of Data 2025 report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). While publishers are leading, agencies and brands are catching up, with many expecting full deployment within the next few years. However, challenges like complexity and data security are prompting the need for clearer strategies, use case definitions, and performance metrics.

As marketers attempt to piece together a full, nuanced picture of how their paid media affects outcomes, old-fashioned measurement tactics are coming back into vogue, and new players are rising to prominence.

Streamers, pay TV sue to block click-to-cancel: The FTC’s attempt to standardize digital cancellations may have an uphill battle.

How can in-game ad buyers calibrate their ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how can publishers and solution providers assess whether their ad revenues are in line with industry trends?

Attention metrics can be applied throughout the campaign life cycle to minimize waste and facilitate performance. Get up to speed on how attention works and what offerings are in-market.

IAB introduces in-store retail media standards: New guidelines aim to unify ad formats, metrics, and improve measurement transparency.

Agencies begin to doubt retail media’s efficacy:: Some are counseling caution as lack of standardization and the sheer number of RMNs make it difficult to assess whether brands’ investments are paying off.

Advertisers and tech vendors look to capitalize on CTV’s growing importance in digital advertising.