Yelp’s newest Most Loved Brands list identifies which national chains consumers returned to most in a year defined by cautious, value-sensitive spending. Unlike perception-based rankings, Yelp’s loyalty score draws from behavioral signals—repeat visits to brand pages, review volume, sentiment, and photo activity—revealing what people actually do, not just what they say. Dave’s Hot Chicken leads the list on the strength of customizable experiences and overwhelmingly positive ratings, while legacy chains, nostalgia-driven brands, and Zillennial favorites succeed for distinct reasons. For marketers, the findings echo broader path-to-purchase trends: consumers increasingly depend on reviews, consistency, and social proof to validate where they spend.

Influencer marketing is no longer optional—it’s a performance-driven growth engine. As consumer trust and expectations reshape engagement, brands must adapt their strategies to sustain returns in a fast-moving yet maturing channel.

Gen X and millennial women are a key force in the personal care and beauty market. They’re outpacing overall market averages across several core product categories, underscoring their importance for brand growth and retailer strategy.

In today’s digital era, a bank’s internal culture is public-facing. Employee experiences quickly surface through reviews and social media, directly shaping customer trust and brand perception, per The Financial Brand. A stressed, disconnected, or toxic bank culture can undermine any marketing strategy, even if it’s creative and targeted at the right customers. Assessing and addressing culture issues should be a key step of looking holistically at customer acquisition and retention strategies. Anonymous employee polls can help banks identify potential risks to customer relationships.

As advertisers navigate Google’s recent search changes that favor its emerging AI models, retail media strategies could offer them heightened visibility and control.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how virality is being redefined, how the word “Creator” is being reimagined, and how the social content consumers are looking for is changing. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Analyst Emmy Liederman, Senior Analyst Minda Smiley, and Co-Founder and CEO of Kale Isha Patel. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Generative AI (genAI) is fundamentally changing how consumers shop online, potentially eliminating the "treasure hunt" experience that drives impulse purchases and changing how marketers push products.

This week, consumers are concerned about tariffs but continue shopping via mobile and on low-price retailers associated with China. Consumers are also less focused on fast delivery and flocking to Google for reviews.

Google takes aim at fake reviews: The company will improve detection and impose stricter penalties on UK businesses and individuals.

Young consumers’ habit of regularly checking companies’ and apps’ reviews creates a valuable opportunity to build relationships.

BuzzFeed has created a commerce site for its lifestyle brand, Goodful, while Time has launched a platform for product recommendations and reviews. TikTok’s Pulse Premiere program offers publishers 50% of ad revenues and a brand safety guarantee.

Amazon, Twitter, and HBO Max are all dealing with fraud: Spam and fakery are affecting multiple facets of the digital economy.

Here’s how publishers are developing and expanding their ecommerce monetization strategies, and how brands and retailers can partner with them to drive purchases in the affiliate channel.

Reviews have always been a key aspect of a consumer’s shopping journey. But nowadays—particularly as more consumers lean on ecommerce—additional information in the form of user-generated visuals is becoming just as critical.

Influencer marketing remains both fascinating and frustrating for marketers. In this report, 16 creators share how they work with brands and how they view their role in the path to purchase.

According to a March 2019 RetailMeNot study, internet users looking for more information in-store often skip approaching retail associates and go directly to their smartphones. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they would look for reviews on their phone first, and 53% would search for deals before speaking with an employee.

Mobile apps are eating the world, and marketers need to get on board. This report provides an overview of paid and organic app user acquisition strategies, as well as some problems related to attribution and ad fraud.