The most expensive political ad cycle in US history ended last week. Campaign buys stopped Wednesday morning, pulling billions in demand out of the market just as holiday budgets hit their peak.

The affiliate test could help brands convert existing demand into sales through more authentic recommendations.

This is the latest installment of our “UK Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.​​

This is the latest installment of our “UK Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.​​

Thousands of layoffs could alter content investment, audience engagement, and advertising value.

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.

Connected TV ad buying is shifting toward private programmatic deals as advertisers seek greater control. But fragmented buying paths, limited transparency, and mounting ad tech fees complicate the push for efficiency.

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.

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.

With watch time up 50%, brands can tap devoted audiences through creator deals and natural product placements.

In Q4 2026, we analyzed 3,210 ChatGPT and 3,210 Google Gemini recommendations across eight media and entertainment categories to compile the AI Visibility Index.

AI-generated recommendations are reshaping how consumers discover media and entertainment services. Brand visibility remains competitive, but frequent mentions don't always translate into top recommendations.

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.

Lower engagement and a $300M ad revenue shortfall give marketers reason to hold budgets steady.

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.

AI search is quickly changing how consumers discover and evaluate brands, but marketers are still figuring out how to measure, and improve, their visibility. Most marketers are still experimenting, often building on existing SEO strategies. But AI search requires marketers to think beyond where their websites rank. AI-generated answers can draw on brand websites, publishers, social platforms, reviews, affiliates, and community conversations, making visibility a much broader challenge.

Despite holding more than 50% of the nation's wealth, baby boomers trail Gen X and millennials in consumer spending. They also favor traditional in-store shopping over using social media platforms for product discovery and purchases.

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.

The latest data reveals where US digital markets are headed as ad spending concentrates in a few platforms, genAI search and AI-driven commerce move into the mainstream, and CTV takes over TV budgets.

Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services are attracting more viewers, but advertising growth isn't keeping pace. Low ad prices appeal to brands, but heavy ad loads and inconsistent reporting raise questions about performance.