Humor and celebrity now dominate Super Bowl ads; brands now favor memeable, star-driven comedy as safer attention drivers and a chance at social-media virality.
Retail media strategies are diverging; Macy’s and Iceland show how retailers are choosing between faster scale through partners and deeper control through bespoke in-store systems.
TikTok, Temu, and Shein prove loyalty and habit outweigh geopolitics in US app use.
51% US consumers now notice healthcare and pharma advertising on CTV, putting it ahead of search and social.
Regulatory pressure and political alignment are now influencing programming stability, deal viability, and advertiser confidence one year into Trump's second presidency.
YouTube expands shoppable CTV ads with Google Demand Gen, with new units aiming to convert passive viewing into action without feeling intrusive.
Streaming takes nearly half of TV viewing in a new record, driven by sports and major cultural hits, proving live events still dominate TV.
Social, genAI, and microdramas surge, showing where consumer spend—and ads—are headed.
Prescription drug advertising approached $6 billion in 2025, led by weight loss, mental health, and cancer medications.
After passing 400 million users, Meta will open global Threads ads next week, inviting easy campaign extensions with brand safety built-in
42% of US TikTok performance ad campaigns now use Tinuiti's Smart+ automated solution, up from just 9% at the start of 2025, according to an October report from Tinuiti.
Pinterest shifts to yield; its leadership change reinforces focus on performance, commerce, and higher ARPU.
Netflix's spending overshadowed its Q4 results; it beat expectations, but investor focus has shifted to the execution and regulatory risk of the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.
Threads beats X in daily active users on mobile as Meta’s established ad stack makes Threads a safer long-term bet for community-driven social ads.
TikTok-led campaigns fell 48% YoY as brands pivoted from platform risk toward flexible, reusable user-generated content.
The first year of Trump’s second term has brought disruption and uncertainty, reshaping retail, media advertising, tech, health, and financial services.
Sony concedes hardware limits as TCL turns Bravia into leverage for CTV ads, data, and OS-driven distribution.
Reels now carry most Instagram ads, demonstrating Meta’s bet that short-form can drive ad scale—even if efficiency is still evolving.
An $8 GPT-5.2 Instant tier boosts use limits, adds memory, and tees up ads to offset soaring genAI costs.
Digital keeps growing, but differently; slower growth rates signal market maturity, forcing marketers to prioritize mix, performance, and flexibility.