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.

Episodic tools extend its CTV play, giving marketers more creator-led inventory for living rooms.

B2B digital ad spending growth is accelerating in 2026. Although mobile growth is slowing from its 2025 pace, mobile and video will still outpace overall B2B digital spending. Display’s share is expanding, while search remains important as AI changes how buyers research and validate vendors.

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.

Their broad reach makes authentic partnerships and product-focused content vital for brands.

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.

Mid-tier creators are turning to podcasts to get on advertisers' radar as more brands test digital audio. They lack the reach of podcasting's biggest stars, like Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" show. What they have instead is a passionate audience, and that is what connects them to sponsors. US podcast creator revenue “At the end of the day, advertisers are looking for one thing, it’s engagement numbers,” said Brian Conlon, president of DAX US. “Whether it’s social media, or video views, or downloads for a podcast, they want to know how each [channel performs].”

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.

The creator economy has spent two decades as a testing ground for marketers. That phase is over, says Andrew Perlman, CEO of Recurrent Ventures, which owns creator brands including Donut, Bob Vila, and Futurum.

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.

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.

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss what YouTube has evolved into, how it’s transforming TV ad buying, and how YouTube TV is shaping digital pay TV. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Senior Analyst Ross Benes and Principal Forecasting Writer Ethan Cramer Flood. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.

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.

Discover how UK consumers shop across online and offline channels, what influences their buying decisions, and which trends are reshaping the path to purchase.

This benchmark covers how ad buyers can calibrate their digital ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how publishers and solution providers can assess whether their ad revenues align with industry trends.​

YouTube makes creator content look more like TV: Creator-led shows give CTV advertisers another reason to make YouTube core media.

B2B buyers rely on experts, customers, and peers to evaluate vendors. This report examines how trusted voices shape buyer research and AI-driven discovery and whether paid social investment and influencer programs are keeping pace with buyer behavior.

Lower thresholds widen discovery, giving brands another way to vet partners beyond follower counts.