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.

Retail media is not just for retailers anymore. US commerce media ad spending is projected to hit $118.4 billion by 2029, growing at a 15.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), per a May EMARKETER forecast.

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.

Skai launches Celeste AI to streamline commerce media: Celeste combines cross-channel analysis and optimization, cutting task time from hours to seconds.

Retail media networks (RMNs) are eyeing the open web as an opportunity for scaled growth, but successfully integrating retailer data off-platform won’t happen overnight.

Walmart looks to make it easier for advertisers to buy its display ads: Walmart Connect’s new API should help it attract more ad dollars from smaller brands and marketplace sellers.

The retail media landscape is evolving rapidly, requiring brands, networks, and tech partners to optimize and enhance their ad solutions and capabilities. Here are three recent announcements.

Digital ad spend grows in Q2 2024, says Skai: Retail media leads with 21% YoY increase, despite higher CPC and CPM across channels.

Amazon Prime Day conditioned shoppers to expect bargains in July: That’s driven Google, Target, Walmart, and others to seize on the opportunity to drive consumers to spend.

Retail media search is gaining steam while Google and other traditional search players lag. Marketers will grapple with genAI and measurement challenges as they rely more heavily on retailers’ search ad offerings.

ROAS is a widely used metric for advertisers to understand the effectiveness of their campaigns, and newly added data to Industry KPIs shows YoY changes in ROAS by industry. We recently added several important metric benchmarks to Industry KPIs, including cost per click (CPC) and ecommerce ad spend.

It’s not the fastest-growing channel, but paid search is still a vital component of the digital advertising ecosystem, especially as privacy changes and a potential recession put ad budgets in jeopardy.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss TikTok's available shopping features, its advertising versus commerce priorities, and what brands should be doing on the platform. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top four TikTok communities driving commerce right now. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and Jasmine Enberg.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss the current relevance of Prime Day, what to make of a second Prime Day in the fall, and which categories we should be watching. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top three reasons consumers might have opted out of Prime Day. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analyst Andrew Lipsman.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss how retailers build a sense of urgency and the goals of retailer-specific holidays beyond just sales. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top three examples of effective retail holiday marketing and discuss a miss. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analyst Suzy Davidkhanian and Briefings director Jeremy Goldman.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss how inflation got so high and which metrics retailers should be looking at to determine the economic reality of this moment. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top two companies reacting the best to economic uncertainty—and which two are reacting the worst. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Briefings director Jeremy Goldman and analyst Zak Stambor.