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.

Beauty ecommerce is outpacing the broader category as social and AI reshape the path to purchase. As generational divides widen, brands and retailers need to rethink how they win discovery, consideration, and conversion.

In our second-annual Pulse of the Consumer: UK Personal Care and Beauty Survey, shoppers share how dupes, social media, and AI are shaping product discovery.​

The move adds to fragmented youth social media rules, making contextual ads a safer route for reach.

"If you do not have a gaming strategy, it's clearly too big to ignore now," Charles Hambro, CEO and co-founder of GEEIQ, said at EMARKETER's Future of Digital summit last week. "But you should not get bamboozled by 'Oh my god, we're gonna build unbelievable worlds.' Be very, very self-disciplined with regards to what are my CPMs for this audience." Nearly 60% of US consumers will be digital gamers this year, according to EMARKETER's forecast, yet only 2.4% of total digital ad spend in 2026 will go to gaming. It's a delta that represents both a significant opportunity and a cautionary tale for marketers who rush in without proper measurement frameworks.

Turkey’s advertising and ecommerce markets are expanding at a measured pace, while shifts in AI adoption, media consumption, and digital shopping are reshaping consumer behavior.

Bite-sized news could attract younger audiences while creating fresh ad inventory, including local placements.

AI is gaining influence over what consumers discover and consider long before it commands a meaningful share of the digital economy. But existing advantages in reaching consumers, earning trust, and driving transactions still matter.

Social media still sets Gen Z’s product discovery apart from that of non-Gen Z shoppers. But when it comes time to buy, Gen Zers are just as likely to turn to shopping websites and apps as physical stores.

Feeling encouraged to cut back on social media use may not translate into lasting behavior changes, especially when the warnings are easily dismissible.

For decades, brand visibility at the US Open tennis championship meant courtside signage, broadcast ads, and athlete endorsement deals. That formula is being rewritten to consider when and how creators enter the pictures, according to John Hu, co-founder of Stan, an agency that works with 90,000 creator entrepreneurs and influencers across verticals. The old model treated creators as an amplification layer: Build the campaign, then hire influencers to post about it. Hu says that sequence is backwards.

Advances in technology, the rise of autonomous vehicles, and changes in the way consumers shop for cars are all transforming the auto industry. Here are the latest trends in ad spending, and how shoppers research and buy cars.

Retail media networks (RMNs) have built out social and creator offerings, but advertisers have not widely adopted them. To attract spend, RMNs must prove that their offer of better targeting and measurement outweighs the added cost and complexity.

Multimedia replies give brands richer consumer insights, but engagement quality is more important than volume.

Millennials are entering their peak earning years with deep digital fluency, but adulthood is changing their habits. AI is becoming a practical tool, digital fatigue is reshaping social media use, and family life is influencing media and shopping.

AI is reshaping contextual advertising across CTV, audio, retail media, and the open web. It’s advancing semantic understanding, agentic planning, and real-time targeting while exposing persistent measurement and infrastructure gaps.

US ecommerce is poised to enter a phase of mature and stable growth, but AI remains a wild card that could significantly alter the trajectory of retail’s online shift.

Facebook’s massive reach still attracts ad dollars even as its usage growth stalls. Commerce, video, and automated advertising offer fresh opportunities, but it has weak appeal among creators and younger users.