AI is already disrupting programmatic. Generative search is reshaping web traffic, while agentic buying and curated deals redraw how ads are bought and sold. Expect more automation and more premium pipes, but tougher transparency tradeoffs.

AI was everywhere at CES 2026, from robots to toilets and toys. The race to define the next computing interface is on, agentic ad tech is emerging, and health wearables are pushing further into physiological data. Best in show: Lego’s Smart Brick.

Reddit is leans into AI automation with its new Max campaigns. The new offering promises to cut CPAs and lift conversions, giving marketers efficiency relief as social CPMs rise sharply.

Marketers across categories are calling for simpler, more intuitive advertising systems after years of growing fragmentation and technical overload. In interviews with EMARKETER, leaders from Criteo, LiveRamp, Reddit, Vistar Media, StackAdapt, and DoorDash all described a shift toward platforms that reduce effort, unify workflows, and provide clearer decision making. Buyers want fewer interfaces, standardized KPIs, easier activation, and more transparent insight into where ads run. The message is consistent: performance pressure amplifies the value of operational clarity. As the industry moves into 2026, platforms that eliminate friction—rather than add features—will gain share, while marketers who choose simplicity will gain speed and efficiency.

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.

New data shows traditional SEO success no longer guarantees visibility inside generative AI answers. Ahrefs found that fewer than 9% of ChatGPT and Gemini citations come from URLs ranked in Google’s top 10 results—meaning more than 90% of high-ranking organic pages never appear in AI responses. Instead, LLMs lean heavily on community-driven sources like Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, Yelp, and TripAdvisor, dramatically reshaping early-stage discovery. With LLM usage exceeding one billion monthly users, brands that do not participate in open forums risk disappearing from AI-mediated journeys. Marketers must treat GEO as a distinct discipline, not an extension of SEO.

Reddit ad spend is growing 46.3% YoY, more than double Instagram's growth rate and five times TikTok's, according to a November report from Sensor Tower.

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.

Generational splits shape how consumers find, research, and trust banks. Younger adults move through digital channels with ease, while older adults rely on branches, human support, and established institutions.

Social networks will claim close to 32% of US digital ad spending in 2026, as powerful AI systems and improved video monetization help push social past a plateau in time spent among US consumers.

Attention metrics (AUs) in the social media video landscape are gradually fragmenting as audiences shift to platforms with interest-driven feeds, per our industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Consumer attention fragmenting across platforms means that advertisers who are already struggling to reach target audiences on social media are facing an uphill battle. Focusing on interest-driven platforms like Reddit and Pinterest as they gain AUs can help drive stronger results, while maintaining investment in leaders like YouTube will remain essential.

Australia has enacted the world’s first nationwide ban on social-media accounts for anyone under 16, forcing platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to remove underage users or face major penalties. Policymakers and researchers will study the effects on mental health, offline behavior, and migration to unregulated platforms—insights that could influence US policy, where similar proposals are already gaining traction. For advertisers, the implications are significant: removing millions of teen users would constrict future reach curves, shift youth attention toward gaming-adjacent spaces, raise competition for compliant inventory, and complicate early brand-building. Australia’s experiment may foreshadow US market disruption.

For social platforms, AI hype is colliding with user fatigue and rising regulations. In the US, they face stalled engagement and tougher rules as people demand more control and more human experiences.

The New York Times filed a lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity on Friday, adding to the more than 40 current court cases between AI companies and copyright holders. Lawsuits like The Times’ underscore how AI is impacting the overall health and future of the digital advertising ecosystem—requiring advertisers to rethink traditional strategies.

Generative AI tools increasingly rely on community-driven platforms—Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and more—as primary sources that feed directly into consumer-facing answers. Because AI does not distinguish between search content, social chatter, reviews, creator posts, or earned media, brand visibility now depends on cross-team coordination rather than siloed optimization. Upstream conversations matter: if forums, reviews, or public commentary lack clarity or depth, AI responses will mirror those gaps. And because users often begin with general queries—not shopping-specific ones—early influence happens long before product discovery. To stay visible, brands must unify search, social, PR, and content workflows.

As AI increasingly powers everything from holiday ads to product recommendations, retailers face a critical balancing act between efficiency and authenticity. "The question isn't if retailers will use AI, it's how they'll keep using it and maintain the human touch along the way," said host Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent episode of “Behind the Numbers.”

Amazon is going all-in on AI-powered advertising solutions for small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). SMBs can now create high-quality campaigns without requiring costly resources, giving SMBs access to creative capabilities that were once out of reach.

Future-proofing against—and capitalizing on—advances in consumer-facing AI will be the overarching theme for retailers in 2026.