Economic headwinds are reshaping Asia-Pacific ad spend as AI-powered platforms, retail media, and video continue to attract performance-focused budgets. Digital remains resilient as growth diverges across China, Australia, Japan, and Thailand.

The global AI race looks different depending on how it’s measured. Emerging markets dominate among internet users, while developed markets lead across the broader population.

Microdrama audience growth in China is slowing, but the industry’s biggest opportunity is just beginning. AI, premium storytelling, and branded content are transforming the format into a serious media and marketing platform.

WeChat turns into an AI concierge: An AI assistant could steer actions inside the super app, changing discovery and user agency.

Social media nears half of digital ad revenues: Platforms will take 44% of online ads by 2030, hitting $640 billion as AI tools and short video lure budgets.

Singles Day began as a prank at a Chinese university in 1993, when students created an "anti-Valentine's Day" to celebrate being single. Alibaba transformed it into a shopping holiday in 2009, and it has since become the world's largest retail event, complete with Taylor Swift performing at the 2019 Singles Day Gala.

Total media time is plateauing across Asia-Pacific. But mobile and video are driving digital’s continued gains as traditional media declines.

Gen X commands the greatest share of income and consumer spending but consistently diverges from younger cohorts in how they discover, shop, and pay. This report explores how their reliance on search, retail, and established channels—paired with slower adoption of social commerce, mobile payments, and AI—creates a distinct and often misunderstood profile.

Bolt’s super app ambitions failed to connect with real-life consumer engagement.

The AI Platform Is Closer Than Some Rivals, but It Still Faces Barriers

US media habits show a split between heavy streaming and enduring live TV. Gaming, immersive tech, and short video add complexity, making the market both advanced and fragmented.

OpenAI introduced a wide swath of app integrations for ChatGPT, pushing the generative AI (genAI) chatbot toward super app status. Spotify, Booking.com, Zillow, Canva, Figma, and Expedia are now all part of the ChatGPT experience. Brands should start treating ChatGPT like a search engine, app store, and marketplace all in one. Marketers should create and tag their content so it can surface naturally in ChatGPT responses. Generative engine optimization (GEO) strategies include structuring content and product copy with mini headlines and using concrete language over abstract phrasing to boost appearances in output.

Bolt launched a super app, named SuperApp, that combines payments, banking, crypto trading, rewards, and shopping, per a press release. For the select few crypto-forward consumers, Bolt’s crypto reach across 40+ cryptocurrencies could be attractive but there’s not much differentiating it from fintechs that already offer crypto services, like PayPal or Cash App.

Consumers in Japan have been slow to embrace digital technology, but they are gradually warming to it. Recent data shows consumers are changing their online shopping and media consumption behavior.

Digital’s rapid adoption in recent years has made it the dominant medium with which people spend time in China, Japan, and South Korea, with consumption booming in India.

Social network user growth will be slow on a worldwide level, but 2025’s meager 2.9% increase will still equate to more than 115 million new users. Facebook remains in the lead in most countries and regions, even though its share of internet users is declining.

Government missteps turned into a viral ad for privacy, giving Signal a rare shot at user loyalty in a market crowded by data-hungry giants.

Luxury brands are grappling with downturns in the US and China, the largest markets for personal luxury goods, and will have to seize opportunities for growth from new markets and product innovation.

Mytheresa expands China presence in long-term bet on luxury growth: While the retailer is bullish on its ability to woo big spenders, the country’s economic crisis and booming daigou industry could weigh on its near-term prospects.

Like many other payment providers globally, Alibaba is opening up its walled garden to fight off antitrust scrutiny