蘑菇AV

Search is undergoing a seismic shift. Google is still the go-to for most inquiries, but generative AI is changing how people search, and leading people to explore alternative search engines. Meanwhile, paid search dollars are moving to retail media networks as shoppers begin their searches on Amazon and other retailer sites. And Gen Z鈥檚 search habits look different from older generations, with the cohort flocking to social media sites like TikTok and using visual search and chatbots.

Paid search leads in conversion, beating paid social by four times: New report鈥檚 insights emphasize strategic channel use and tailored marketing approaches.

In China, ecommerce channel ad spending represents over 38% of total digital ad spending, and ecommerce search spending accounts for 64.0% of total search. Could the US figures reach similar heights?

Advertisers will increase their spend on US retail media search ads every year of our forecast period in 2028, when it will see its most growth at 23.4% YoY, according to our March 2024 forecast.

蘑菇AV analysts highlight four trends that will affect digital advertising in 2025.

At $22.25 billion, digital advertising is advancing unabated in Latin America this year. Double-digit gains in video and retail media ad spending, as well as improving economic conditions in Brazil and Mexico, will help take the regional market to new heights. Here are the latest trends you need to know.

70.5% of US traditional search ad spend will go to Google in 2026, according to our March 2024 forecast.

Total media ad spending growth has stabilized, and digital ad spending is set for an extended period of low double-digit annual increases. Amazon, TikTok, and Instagram will be the main growth drivers this year.

Over the weekend, thousands of alleged Google Search API documents were leaked. The highly technical documents purport to cover Google鈥檚 over 14,000 ranking factors, how link value and click behavior are evaluated, and how Google classifies smaller sites. But for the average marketer focused on building a brand, the news may be more exciting than actionable.

Though platforms like Perplexity, Arc Browser, and Bing have advanced generated search results, Google鈥檚 announcement last week that it鈥檚 rolling out 鈥淎I Overviews鈥� to searchers will likely make AI-written search results the norm. But some marketers say the feature is not quite ready for widespread use.

Earlier this month, a story in The Verge set fire to the SEO world, describing the stereotypes of SEO professionals as 鈥渢hat of a hustler: a content goblin willing to eschew rules, morals, and good taste in exchange for eyeballs and mountains of cash. A nihilist in it for the thrills, a prankster gleeful about getting away with something.鈥�

With OpenAI鈥檚 new GPT Store, an Apple App Store-like interface that opened earlier this month, SEO professionals can share their own custom versions of ChatGPT with premium subscribers. But these collaborative innovations aren鈥檛 without their challenges. Generative AI can鈥檛 do everything, and it can be hard to vet new tools in the store.

In a video- and image-centric world, SEO is still the key to allocating marketing budgets, and Google has already done much of the research for you. 鈥淓very time Google shows a search result, they are displaying billions of dollars in R&D to understand the customer,鈥� said Wil Reynolds, VP of Innovation at Seer Interactive, speaking at the Paid Search Association annual conference. 鈥淏illions that I don't have.鈥�