YouTube is experimenting with AI avatars based on a small group of popular creators via Google’s “Portraits” feature, which allows fans to have conversations with AI versions of real-life creators. Advertisers should approach AI creators with cautious interest, closely monitoring how the format evolves as an ad opportunity while balancing emerging AI capabilities with consumers’ sensitivity to authenticity.

On today’s EMARKETER Miniseries—AI-Driven Media Management—we explore how to break down the media manager role into workflows that can be automated or augmented by agentic AI, what agencies misunderstand about AI, and which agency tasks are ripest to hand off to AI right now. EMARKETER Senior Director of Content Jeremy Goldman speaks with Adam Epstein, co-founder and CEO of Gigi. Listen everywhere you find podcasts, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Creator marketing will scale in 2026 as brands chase measurable outcomes. At the same time, pressures from AI, shifting platform incentives, and rising automation will reshape how creators earn and grow.

From Gen Alpha’s social video boom to millennials’ tech anxieties and boomers’ ecommerce power, this report spotlights the generational forces that will drive consumer behavior in 2026.

"The retail media landscape is only becoming more crowded, but Target's guest insights are often cited as a key differentiator," said our analyst Sarah Marzano during EMARKETER's recent Commerce Media Summit.

YouTube’s vast, diverse user base makes it the most widely adopted digital platform in the US. But engagement varies meaningfully across age, race and ethnicity, and gender. This report breaks down who is watching and how usage differs across demographic groups.

The Academy Awards will leave ABC after nearly 50 years and stream exclusively on YouTube beginning in 2029—a decisive acknowledgment that audience attention has migrated to digital TV. The deal gives the Academy expanded year-round programming options, flexible sponsorship formats, and a global distribution footprint that linear networks can no longer match. YouTube, now the No. 1 source of US TV viewing time at 13%, gains a premier cultural event as it continues its push into live programming alongside NFL Sunday Ticket. For marketers, the Oscars’ move underscores how YouTube has become the industry’s default television—and a must-buy for premium reach.

Fragmented habits define the sports consumer in Canada, where fans juggle platforms, formats, and betting styles. Engagement is high, but attention and spending are spread widely—forcing marketers to compete for moments rather than dominance.

Digital ad spending remains resilient although economic signals are wobbly. AI-driven optimization, richer first-party data, and surging digital video will keep growth strong even as search shifts and traditional budgets fade.

WPP Media and YouTube are expanding their partnership to bring non-public YouTube video and creator data into WPP’s AI system WPP Open, per a press release. Taking advantage of WPP Media’s offering gives advertisers the ability to partner with creators on the most popular social platform in a far more measurable, practical, and effective way than before.

Generational habits are diverging as younger audiences move deeper into video-first behaviors while older groups scale back. These shifts are reshaping where marketers can gain attention and how they compete for it.

Generational splits shape how consumers find, research, and trust banks. Younger adults move through digital channels with ease, while older adults rely on branches, human support, and established institutions.

In 2026, AI will reshape advertiser workflows and behaviors, while rising video consumption will boost CTV and YouTube.

PayPal will power stablecoin payouts for US creators on YouTube, per Fortune. US creators can receive PYUSD payments instead of direct deposit. While PayPal’s stablecoin payments are exclusive to US creators for now, the benefits of crypto are more likely to be felt by international creatives, who could be served by lower fees and faster transaction times facilitated. If US adoption is favorable, PayPal has a viable growth plan moving forward.

Social networks will claim close to 32% of US digital ad spending in 2026, as powerful AI systems and improved video monetization help push social past a plateau in time spent among US consumers.

Digital video keeps expanding as more viewers shift to streaming and mobile gains ground. Growth spans every generation, even as cord-cutting accelerates and reshapes how audiences spend time on the biggest screen in the home.

YouTube TV will offer over 10 new, genre-specific subscription bundles in 2026, with one option focused on sports, per a company announcement. YouTube TV Sports Plan will give users access to major sports networks and broadcasters that the pay TV provider offers, including NBC Sports Network, all ESPN networks and ESPN Unlimited, and FS1. Advertisers who thrive will rely on an omnichannel approach that keeps track of where viewers are watching while simultaneously accounting for the enduring relevance of linear to reach sports audiences.

Streaming CPMs are flattening as swelling CTV inventory reshapes pricing power and forces advertisers to rethink how they balance cost, ad clutter, and reach.

Attention metrics (AUs) in the social media video landscape are gradually fragmenting as audiences shift to platforms with interest-driven feeds, per our industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Consumer attention fragmenting across platforms means that advertisers who are already struggling to reach target audiences on social media are facing an uphill battle. Focusing on interest-driven platforms like Reddit and Pinterest as they gain AUs can help drive stronger results, while maintaining investment in leaders like YouTube will remain essential.

Australia has enacted the world’s first nationwide ban on social-media accounts for anyone under 16, forcing platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to remove underage users or face major penalties. Policymakers and researchers will study the effects on mental health, offline behavior, and migration to unregulated platforms—insights that could influence US policy, where similar proposals are already gaining traction. For advertisers, the implications are significant: removing millions of teen users would constrict future reach curves, shift youth attention toward gaming-adjacent spaces, raise competition for compliant inventory, and complicate early brand-building. Australia’s experiment may foreshadow US market disruption.