蘑菇AV

Voice assistants will add nearly 30 million US users between 2022 and 2029, fueled by genAI, demographic shifts, and new hardware. Key adoption trends, platform battles, and marketing opportunities are shaping the next era of voice technology.

A federal court stopped short of ordering Google to divest Chrome, instead requiring it to end exclusive search contracts and share some index data with competitors. Judge Amit Mehta鈥檚 ruling allows Google to keep paying Apple for default placement but bans exclusivity that kept rivals sidelined. Alphabet shares rose 8% after hours, while Apple gained 4%. Google faces six years of oversight but avoids a structural breakup sought by the DOJ. The bigger challenge looms outside the courtroom: AI tools, Reddit, and TikTok are increasingly siphoning queries, while Google鈥檚 top-result clickthrough rates continue to slide.

Meta will allow advertisers to exclude specific words or phrases from AI-generated ad copy to protect and align with brand image as it accelerates its AI advertising push. While barriers to adoption remain, Meta鈥檚 continued push toward AI ad automation signals where the future of advertising is heading: One where AI will increasingly balance scale with control to give marketers confidence in experimenting with automated campaigns.

The news: OpenAI will acquire product-testing startup Statsig for $1.1 billion as it expands its applications division. Statsig CEO Vijaye Raji, formerly vice president and head of entertainment at Facebook, will join OpenAI as CTO of applications. OpenAI said the deal, pending regulatory approval, will help it develop 鈥渆ven better, more responsive experiences for the people and businesses we serve,鈥� per a press release. Our take: This deal positions OpenAI to launch entirely new categories of AI-powered experiences鈥攑ersonalized content feeds, collaborative AI tools, or productivity suites.

Some 35% of US retail advertiser spending on Meta in Q2 2025 went to Advantage+ shopping campaigns, up from just 19% two years ago, per a July Tinuiti report.

The news: Use of AI search tools is surging, which could soon spell trouble for Google鈥檚 market dominance. The share of consumers using of AI search tools on a daily basis doubled to 29% in August, per HigherVisibility鈥檚 2025 How People Search Today report, up from 14% in February. Meanwhile, Google鈥檚 share of general information queries fell from 73% to 67%. Our take: Brands and marketers need to tailor their campaigns and strategies based on user intent. Those looking to attract new shoppers should invest in social media and AI search placements, while those focused on driving traffic for services or capturing high-intent buyers should prioritize Google, especially for initial discovery and location-based queries.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss why investors wanted to bring in an outsider to right the ship, what鈥檚 most to blame for Target鈥檚 recent struggles, and what should be top of the new CEO鈥檚 to-do list. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and guest host, Marcus Johnson, and Senior Analysts, Blake Droesch and Arielle Feger.

Streameast, the world鈥檚 largest illegal sports-streaming hub, has been shut down in a coordinated sting led by Egyptian authorities and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment. The operation dismantled more than 80 domains that drew 1.6 billion visits over the past year. The crackdown comes as soccer and NFL seasons begin, underscoring how piracy disrupts rights holders by siphoning revenues from subscriptions and ads. Yet piracy remains resilient: copycats are already emerging to tap fans frustrated with fragmented, costly streaming options. With digital sports viewership surpassing pay TV, the industry faces an urgent challenge to keep audiences in paid ecosystems.

Disney will pay $10 million in a settlement after the Federal Trade Commission alleged that the company collected personal information from children on videos uploaded to YouTube. Disney reportedly uploaded child-directed content to YouTube but did not label the videos as 鈥淢ade for Kids,鈥� allowing young users to be served targeted ads. Information was collected 鈥渨ithout parental notice or consent,鈥� the FTC and Justice Department said. Disney鈥檚 payout highlights the risks of targeting younger audiences without adequate safeguards鈥攁 challenge that will become even more pressing for advertisers as connected TV matures as a channel.

Despite brands increasing influencer marketing spending, creators are struggling to grow their content business and earn more from sponsorship deals, per Digiday. And while holiday season typically provides a boom, 70% of creators expect traditional sponsored posts to account for under a quarter of their holiday content as focus shifts to performance-driven efforts, according to Collective Voice. Influencer marketing continues its growth trajectory, and the future of the sector relies on how creators adapt to the rise of third-party inventory solutions that divert brand spend away from traditional sponsorships.

The news: AI startup Anthropic raised a staggering $13 billion, tripling its valuation to $183 billion, per CNBC. This momentum is driven by enterprise demand for Claude, Anthropic鈥檚 AI assistant, and a rapidly expanding customer base that now tops 300,000 businesses. The company鈥檚 annual revenues have also jumped fivefold in 2025 to $5 billion. Our take: Anthropic鈥檚 ascent is setting a new standard for AI startups鈥攕purring rivals like Perplexity, Mistral, Intelligent Machines, and Safe Superintelligence to chase scale through aggressive fundraising, not quick exits. The message: In this market, go big or get left behind.

The news: Mistral, a French AI company founded by former Meta and Google DeepMind employees, unlocked premium features including persistent memory, deep business app integrations, and user-controlled privacy on its Le Chat platform at no cost, per VentureBeat. This undercuts rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic that wall off such tools behind paywalls and paid premium. Our take: Free enterprise-grade AI features and cross-platform integrations accelerate adoption, experimentation, and innovation. By enabling data export between AI providers, brands cut switching costs and gain leverage in an interoperable AI market.

Macy鈥檚 better-than-expected Q2 marks 鈥渢he beginning of a momentum change,鈥� CEO Tony Spring told Bloomberg, as the struggling department store finds its footing ahead of the holiday season. Macy鈥檚 is in a better position than most of its department store peers, thanks to its investments in the customer experience and its luxury banners. However, recovery could prove fleeting should consumer sentiment worsen and shoppers balk at higher prices. To keep its momentum going, Macy鈥檚 will need to continue investing in the customer experience and look for ways to differentiate its luxury banners.

The news: Target is offering select customers a free year subscription to its Target Circle 360 membership program if they spend $199 on qualifying purchases by September 20, per Modern Retail. The $99 per year membership program offers free same-day delivery from Target, Kroger, CVS, Petco, and other stores via Target鈥檚 Shipt service, along with early access to Target sales, exclusive discounts and deals, and an extended returns window. Our take: Target should borrow a page from Walmart and lean on partnerships to expand Circle 360. That could mean teaming up with companies like Burger King for perks or with credit card issuers like American Express to bundle free memberships. The real power of paid memberships isn鈥檛 just subscription revenues鈥攊t鈥檚 their stickiness. Amazon has shown that once customers pay for Prime, they try to maximize every perk鈥攕treaming, prescriptions, food delivery, free shipping鈥攁nd the more they use, the more they spend. Nonmembers, by contrast, often plateau or pull back. If Target wants to keep pace, it needs to find ways to broaden Circle 360鈥檚 offerings.

The forecasts: The holiday season may bring more gloom than cheer for retailers as consumers tighten spending amid economic uncertainty. Average per-person spend during the season is projected to fall 5.3% YoY to $1,552, PwC reports. That鈥檚 the first significant drop since the 2020 pandemic. Gen Z is leading the pullback, with their holiday budgets set to plunge 22.5% after soaring 37.4% in last year鈥檚 survey (their actual spending rose just 6%, per PwC鈥檚 card data). That reversal reflects the mounting pressure they face from a stagnant job market, rising fixed costs, and thin savings. One in 4 (25%) Gen Zers now say their finances are worse than a year ago, up from 17% in 2024. Tariffs may be amplifying the pullback. A July CivicScience survey found 54% of consumers under 30鈥攁long with 47% of all gift buyers鈥攑lan to buy fewer or cheaper gifts due to tariff concerns. While our forecast is somewhat brighter鈥攚e expect sales in November and December to grow 1.2% YoY鈥攅ven that would mark the weakest holiday sales gain since we began tracking the metric in 2009. Our take: Retailers should meet consumers where they are this holiday season by offering budget-friendly choices such as smaller sizes, bundles, and gift sets, while also using loyalty programs to push their best customers to spend.

American Eagle Outfitters鈥� bet on star power is helping the company recover from its sales slump. The retailer鈥檚 controversial campaign with Sydney Sweeney has been hugely successful, the company said, helping to boost brand awareness and drive shoppers to stores. Its recently announced collaboration with Travis Kelce also delivered an immediate sales bump. American Eagle鈥檚 celebrity-led marketing strategy is driving its recovery after a poor start to the year. By turning controversy into buzz, the brand鈥檚 campaigns have revived interest in its core products and expanded its appeal to a broader audience.

Consumers are apprehensive about AI's overall impact on society, and are especially pessimistic about its effect on media. But increasing familiarity with the technology is also breeding trust.

LinkedIn is urging B2B marketers to embrace unscripted, authentic video after seeing strong engagement growth on the platform. CMO Jessica Jensen told 蘑菇AV that 鈥渞eal humans talking like real humans鈥� resonates far more than polished assets, encouraging executives to share candid updates and even humor in their posts. The push reflects broader demand: 52% of US B2B marketers used video in 2024, while Millennials and Gen Z鈥攏ow 71% of B2B buyers鈥攅xpect casual, social-style content in professional settings. With B2B video ad spend rising nearly 18% this year, LinkedIn is well positioned to capture that momentum.

AI search engine Perplexity is facing potential ad business struggles with the departure of its head of advertising Taz Patel. The departure comes as Perplexity eyes new avenues for growth and is faced with legal pressures, per Adweek. Patel鈥檚 departure signals a deeper issue with AI search ad monetization, reflecting advertiser hesitation to spend without proven formats, measurement, and ROI, even as AI adoption grows.

Over half (54%) of US ad-supported TV viewers who paused content did so for between one and five minutes, long enough to serve a targeted ad, according to April data from Magna Global and DIRECTV Advertising.

From Rare Beauty鈥檚 scented billboards and Walmart鈥檚 truck tours to Dick鈥檚 Sporting Goods鈥� in-house production studios, here鈥檚 what the eight most interesting retailers from August have been up to, as ranked on our 鈥淏ehind the Numbers鈥� podcast.

"In the space of what amounts to less than two years, we've seen commerce media evolve from an emerging idea to an industry pillar," said our analyst Sarah Marzano during a recent 蘑菇AV webinar.

The findings: Banks鈥� NFL ads did better than other ads on all TV platforms, according to EDO鈥檚 NFL TV Outcomes Report. Bank ads that aired during the NFL鈥檚 2024鈥�2025 season programming were 27% more effective than the category average across all broadcast and cable TV platforms, increasing to 47% during the postseason, according to this study. This effectiveness is measured by the ads' ability to drive brand searches and website visits. Our take: Running an ad during an NFL game and featuring a well-known actor or athlete doesn鈥檛 come cheap. But if done correctly鈥攍everaging the football platform to tell a compelling, human story鈥攖he ROI can make it worthwhile. Financial institutions that haven鈥檛 used celebrities or NFL players in their campaigns should consider engaging a third-party agency to make the most of a potential campaign.