Instagram’s ad revenues are surging, fueled by Reels and creator marketing. But slowing engagement growth, uncertain adoption among younger users, and resistance to AI features raise questions about how long that momentum will last.

Digital habits are converging across generations, but how consumers engage still varies by age. Video brings audiences together, while uneven AI adoption, shopping behaviors, and shifting priorities create new challenges for brands.

Digital media adoption is broad across East Asia and Oceania, but attention is fragmented. Streaming, traditional TV, gaming, creator content, and AI reveal sharp differences in how connected audiences spend their time.

Latin America’s media habits are intensely mobile, social, and streaming-driven. Smartphones anchor daily consumption, while connected TV (CTV) extends it to bigger screens, and AI gains ground as a tool for information discovery.

Western Europe pairs widespread digital access with unusually durable traditional media habits. Streaming is mainstream, but TV and radio remain strong as mature device markets and selective digital behaviors set the region apart.

Media habits remain decidedly regional even as short video, connected TV (CTV), and AI gain ground worldwide. Global media plans need to account for local differences in how audiences watch, play, search, and spend their time.

With paid placements off the table, restaurants need creator reviews and active engagement to stand out.

Retail media ad spending keeps climbing, but growth is slowing and the largest networks are tightening their grip. Off-site advertising, CTV, and AI shopping ads offer new revenue opportunities, while smaller networks face mounting pressure to stand out.

China’s shopping landscape is transforming as AI reshapes product discovery and purchasing decisions. From AI shopping agents to shifting priorities, changing consumer behavior is creating new opportunities and challenges for brands and retailers.

Commerce media is entering a new phase, one defined less by rapid expansion and more by operational maturity, EMARKETER analysts and industry leaders say. Commerce media ad spending will reach $83.71 billion in the US this year, accounting for 20.5% of all digital ad spending, according to EMARKETER's June 2026 forecast. As the channel becomes a core part of marketers' media strategies, the conversation is shifting from whether to invest to how to make those investments deliver measurable business results. In a new EMARKETER guide titled "Commerce media outlook: What industry leaders see ahead," our analysts and industry leaders give their thoughts about the capabilities brands should prioritize today, the consumer behaviors that will shape tomorrow, and what it will take to succeed as commerce media becomes a permanent pillar of the media mix. Max Willens, a principal analyst at EMARKETER covering social media and the creator economy, told us about how creators are taking a bigger role in retail media and where off-site spending can be used in the marketing funnel.

Digital video is a mainstream habit in the UK, but viewing is fragmented across an expanding range of services. As the lines between TV, streaming, and social video blur, marketers face a more complex battle for audience attention.

TikTok’s peptide search restrictions could spur tighter oversight of promotions, affiliate deals, and seller links across social platforms.

TikTok viewers watch an average of 31% of a brand's video, and media and entertainment brands lead at 34%, according to a report from Dash Social.

AI is fueling a banner year for global advertising, pushing digital spending to new heights despite economic and geopolitical stresses. Retail media is surging worldwide, while Meta and Amazon gain ground in the battle for ad dollars.

AI can produce ad creative at scale, but it struggles to deliver the originality brands need to stand out. Marketers need to draw a sharper line between the work AI should handle and where human creativity matters most.

Smart glasses are drawing big bets from certain social platforms, but privacy concerns and limited consumer demand threaten wider adoption. For marketers, the near-term opportunity lies in adapting existing strategies rather than chasing new ad formats.

New buying and AI tools could help the platform capture more transactions from brands and shoppers.

Its discovery model lets SMBs reach nearby consumers without relying on search or large followings.

YouTube is converging social media, streaming TV, digital audio, and product discovery in one platform. But how audiences use it depends on who is watching.​

The World Cup and presidential elections have lifted ad spending growth across all major media in 2026, but digital’s momentum will extend beyond the event-driven boost.