This FAQ covers what ad fraud is, where the waste concentrates, and the practical defenses advertisers are using in 2026.

Agentic AI locks in walled gardens: 76% of advertisers report gains as automated tools tilt budgets toward closed ecosystems over the open web.

AI is accelerating decision-making across programmatic advertising, but better outcomes depend on the quality of the data feeding those systems. As the industry shifts its focus upstream, advertisers are rethinking how supply, identity, and signal integrity shape performance.

Walmart Connect opens up: The company is extending first-party data beyond its DSP, tying off-site buys to in-store sales.

Audience planning has long relied on stable segments, but consumer behavior is becoming more fluid. Signal-based approaches are helping marketers interpret real-time engagement and identify intent as it develops.

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

The Trade Desk's new Trading Modes bundle costs and AI, aiming to rival walled gardens while keeping manual control.

Publicis tells clients it no longer recommends The Trade Desk as both feel pressure from the rise of walled-garden tech platforms.

Fire TV's new UI weaves ads across screens, tying CTV reach to retail data and programmatic scale.

Super Bowl ads still spark buzz, but fragmentation and $8 million costs push marketers to second-screen, social, and CTV plays.

Magnite and MNTN are partnering to expand access to live streaming ads in an integration that opens live inventory to performance marketers new to TV.

Spotify outlines how AI, automation, and immersive experiences will reshape how brands connect with consumers 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.

Amazon is recalibrating its relationship with the agencies and adtech firms that helped build its retail-media dominance. While Amazon insists agencies remain central, many intermediaries say rising data costs and tool duplication echo earlier platform playbooks from Google and Meta—centralize strengths, limit external dependencies, and scale in-house automation. The result is a more controlled, AI-driven ecosystem that may reduce tooling diversity while boosting Amazon’s own ad stack. For marketers, the challenge will be balancing Amazon’s convenience and scale with the flexibility, transparency, and customization offered by independent partners.

Sell-side platform PubMatic and connected TV (CTV) ad company BrightLine announced a partnership that will bring addressable and interactive CTV ad formats to PubMatic’s programmatic platform. As interactivity becomes a critical differentiator in a crowded CTV ad landscape, marketers can use PubMatic and BrightLine’s partnership to more easily deploy interactive CTV ad formats across major publishers.

Dentsu forecasts the global advertising market will surpass $1 trillion for the first time in 2026, growing 5.1% and powered by digital channels that will capture nearly 69% of total spend. Retail media leads with projected 14%–16% growth, while online video and social also expand double digits. Major global events—including the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and a packed political calendar—will drive attention and pricing pressure across markets. APAC remains the fastest-growing region, led by India and China, while the US will represent about 40% of worldwide spend. For marketers, algorithm-first planning, advanced measurement, and early tentpole buying will be critical.

Publicis Groupe’s 100th-anniversary film, “A Lion Never Gives Up,” blends live action with 4,500 AI-generated images to retell the company’s evolution and project its future. With more than half its workforce now in data, engineering, and AI, leadership says the next era will reward companies that fuse creativity with machine-driven operational scale. The film lands as Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG reshapes the competitive field, and Publicis argues its AI maturity gives it an edge in a more concentrated market.

Connected TV is becoming a true bridge between branding and performance, pairing big-screen storytelling with the targeting and measurement rigor of digital. With the right setup, user acquisition teams can bring mobile-style discipline—installs, engagement, and value—to the living room screen.