AI is reshaping how content is created, scaled, and measured. Output is rising, but as AI scales content production across the market, the competitive advantage compresses—making differentiation, trust, and measurement the new constraints on sustained performance.

Regulators are tightening rules around kids’ social media use. Classroom phone bans, age checks, and ad limits aim to protect minors—but will limit reach, targeting, and perhaps even budgets for marketers seeking youth attention.

US lawmakers draft bill to revive easy-cancel rules as consumer budgets are pinched.

This FAQ examines how email marketing is evolving in 2026, what challenges marketers face, and why the channel remains essential for brands that want direct access to their audiences.

TikTok Shop's low prices came with shaky trust, but the budget retailer is maturing into a serious marketplace and attracting partnerships.

Email’s reliability is no longer enough to offset rising consumer expectations. AI accelerates production and enhances relevance, while engagement, trust, and tougher inbox rules push marketers to rethink how they will use the channel in 2026.

Canada’s digital economy is entering a faster, more competitive phase in 2026 as ad spending accelerates, short video surges, ecommerce climbs, and AI-driven search reshapes how audiences discover content.

YouTube and NBCUniversal are doubling down on creator-led Olympic storytelling for Milano Cortina 2026 after Paris proved how strongly younger viewers gravitate toward digital personalities. Top YouTubers will chronicle the journeys of 40 Team USA athletes, with unprecedented access inside trials, training environments, and even the Athlete Village. Nearly half of global sports fans—and 59% of adults ages 18 to 44—follow sports influencers, while YouTube captured 17% of all global Olympic engagement in 2024. For marketers, creators now sit at the center of Olympic discovery, highlights, and cultural relevance, making YouTube indispensable to Games-era planning.

Disney is raising streaming prices again; Disney+ ad-free will climb to $18.99 per month, Hulu’s ad tier will rise to $11.99, and bundles will increase by up to $3. The hikes follow similar moves by Apple TV+ and Peacock, as subscription inflation outpaces consumer budgets. Nearly half of US adults have altered streaming subscriptions in the past six months, with two-thirds of cancellations tied to high costs. Disney can point to premium franchises, ESPN, and bundles as value, but modest daily engagement gains make retention a tougher challenge in a saturated market.

The news: Middle-income credit cardholders who are satisfied with their card are more likely to use buy now, pay later (BNPL) products than all other BNPL users, per a YouGov survey. 48% of satisfied US credit cardholders who used BNPL in the last month reported being middle-income, versus 39% of all BNPL users. BNPL users who were satisfied with their credit card were also more likely to be higher income than all BNPL users, at 10% to 8%. Our take: Issuers of credit cards should note that even their happiest customers desire the flexibility of interest-free installment plans. Credit card companies can get ahead by marketing their card-linked installment plans to their cardholder bases and capture the BNPL spend that could have been lost to a fintech.

Though TikTok Shop faces the dual challenges of economic instability and a tenuous presence on US app stores, marketers are still taking advantage of its positioning as both a social platform and ecommerce engine.

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.

Netflix sells out WWE Raw sponsorships: Ad inventory is booked for months, proving brands see value in wrestling.

Gen Z leads in digital usage by most proportional measures. However, social network use cuts across categories, influencing video viewing and digital buying.

The US healthcare system spends high, but ranks low on overall performance: We unpack the reasons why the US is performing worse than all other high-income countries when it comes to delivering healthcare, and explore how the upcoming presidential election could signal changes.

Five US states currently have comprehensive consumer data protection laws in effect. With five more state privacy laws on the horizon, advertisers need to get up to speed with compliance.

We lowered our expectations for digital ad spending next year amid ongoing data privacy challenges, post-pandemic normalization in investment, and overall market instability.