Listening patterns from 2025 show how audio fits into everyday moments differently across markets, from commutes to cooking to winding down at night. Spotify’s Wrapped for Advertisers pulls those signals into a clearer picture for 2026 advertising decisions.

40% of global consumers say they’ve gone out of their way to spend less on US products in response to tariffs, with Canadian consumers leading the way, based on July data from Morning Consult.

Netflix has secured exclusive streaming rights in Japan for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, its first live sports play in the country. The deal covers all 47 games live and on-demand, expanding on Netflix’s MLB collaborations. Japan’s WBC viewership dwarfs US levels—the 2023 finale drew Super Bowl–level shares and over 30 million viewers for most Japan games. Netflix, already strong in regional SVOD revenue, faces tough youth competition from U-NEXT, d-anime, and Abema Premium. By betting on baseball, Netflix is testing whether national sports passion can drive subscriber growth, retention, and cultural relevance in one of its toughest markets.

The trend: Instagram is gaining momentum across Asia-Pacific, fueled by India’s 2020 TikTok ban and a projected 10% user growth in that market for 2025. Japan’s forecast has also climbed, with 44.4 million users expected next year. Our take: Instagram’s rise isn’t just reactive—it’s a sign of strong localization and feature depth. With TikTok facing stricter laws in Australia and Southeast Asia, Instagram’s Reels and group-channel tools position it as the more stable, advertiser-friendly option. Brands targeting APAC should reevaluate platform strategies as Instagram captures more of the region’s fast-changing digital attention.

Facebook is projected to lose users in several major markets: Meta may need to lean more heavily on its other platforms to sustain growth.

In our exclusive survey with ESW, data from shoppers in 18 countries reveals new twists in the path to purchase, the rising momentum of marketplaces, and the resilience of age-old fundamentals.

OTT video is popular whether it’s free or paid. Every global region and country we track is engaged with these platforms, some very deeply. But new viewers will be hard to find.

Our debut worldwide digital gamer forecast reveals that growth has slowed considerably, mainly because gaming is already a common and popular activity for internet users in almost every country. But some markets are more enthusiastic than others.

China still has some clout as the biggest chip market in the world, and the restrictions could spur competition and growth in domestic semiconductor production.

Amazon can stake a claim as one of Canada’s top mass merchants, even without having physical stores. It has reached this milestone after more than three years of accelerated retail ecommerce in the country.

Our latest forecasts on media and tech usage in Japan offer a glimpse of what’s expected.

Our latest forecast for 14 countries and three regions shows continuing worldwide growth for podcast listenership but at very different rates. And the sources of growth are shifting.

Mineral arms race dives deep: The future of clean energy and ocean ecosystems hangs in the balance of the UN’s closed-door decision-making on deep-sea mining. Yet there are greener trajectories.

House passes $52B chip R&D and acceleration bill: Tech companies are clamoring for the infusion of funds, which can increase the US’ 12% share of global semiconductor production capacity.

A less global set of Olympic fans: Olympic organizers have banned foreign spectators from attending the games in Japan this summer, and there are two questions marketers should consider in response to this decision.

The US will remain the largest market worldwide for total and digital advertising for the foreseeable future. China achieved rapid catch-up growth for a while, starting at one-quarter of the US spend in 2012 and rising to almost half by 2020.

Total media ad spending worldwide will reach $628.63 billion in 2018, a 7.4% gain over last year. Mobile advertising’s share of spend is expected to climb to 29.2% this year.