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The news: Linear ad impressions declined 4.25% YoY in Q1, falling from about 92% of impressions in early 2023 to around 86% in March 2025, per iSpot’s Q1 TV Ad Transparency Report. But despite the decline, linear ad spend grew 4% in Q1, reaching $12.34 billion—indicating that while audience preferences are shifting, advertiser interest in linear remains steady. Our take: The most effective ad strategies will strike a balance between sustaining investment in linear to capitalize on its scale and reliability, and steadily increasing investment in streaming to align with evolving viewer behavior and future-proof campaign performance.

In December, IPG bought Intelligence Node for $100 million to deepen ecommerce intelligence. Also in December, Omnicom announced plans to absorb Interpublic Group to create an end-to-end marketing and sales company. In March, Publicis announced a deal to pick up Lotame, citing the urgent need to connect AI, media, and commerce.

The news: Shein’s and Temu’s influence in the US is fading quickly as both companies cut ad spending and look to Europe for growth. Our take: Shein and Temu are finding that the billions of dollars they plowed into US advertising have not been enough to secure US customers’ loyalty in the face of higher prices. But rather than find ways to extend the longevity of their US businesses, both companies are fleeing to Europe to take advantage of the (currently) more favorable trade environment.

Social shoppers regularly buy products on Reddit—16% make purchases via Reddit once a week, while 24% make purchases two to three times monthly. Yes, but: Advertisers haven’t fully tapped into the platform. Reddit captures only 1% of US social ad revenues, and many brands still consider it an experimental platform where it’s difficult to understand what works and what doesn’t.

The news: Adobe and Amazon are redefining how marketers produce video ads by launching new generative AI tools aimed at small and mid-sized businesses. Adobe Express for Ads, unveiled today, supports direct publishing to platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok, while Amazon’s AI video tool can transform product pages into multiple ad variants. These tools cater to resource-limited advertisers seeking scale and performance. Our take: The video ad market is maturing fast—and AI is making it more accessible. As more marketers pilot GenAI tools, early adopters will gain an edge in personalization and efficiency, turning creative experimentation into reliable results.

The news: National TV ad revenues will fall 11.4% this year, hitting $35.3 billion, while streamers are expected to rise 26% to $7.8 billion, per a Madison and Wall projection reported by MediaPost. Our take: Advertisers should continue shifting strategies to align with viewing habits and consumer behaviors—but remain cautious about complete CTV adoption, as opaque ad placements and looming economic pressures spell an uncertain future.

And despite TikTok’s attempt to position itself as separate from parent company ByteDance, recent moves have seen ByteDance tightening its oversight of TikTok Shop—potentially contributing to reignited fears from US leaders.

TikTok made updates to Symphony Creative Studio—its AI-powered video ad generation tool—and commerce-focused AI ad tools for TikTok Shop sellers. Symphony is integrating with Smart+, its AI marketing campaign creator, allowing companies to launch ads directly from the creative studio.

Canada ranked No. 2 globally in cross-border retail ecommerce buyer penetration, according to our December 2024 forecasts. More than half (56.1%) of digital buyers were forecast to make transactions outside of the country (mostly the US) in 2025. But tariffs on US consumer goods and services will reduce demand significantly.

Senate leader questions pharma advertising oversight amid growing calls for more regulation: The threats of new legislation and regulations indicate the seriousness of both the Trump administration and Congress to move against pharma ads.

The news: YouTube unveiled Open Call at Cannes Lions 2025, a new platform-native feature allowing advertisers to post campaign briefs that monetized creators can directly respond to with self-produced content. The initiative removes the need for traditional influencer matchmaking, giving brands centralized control over content submissions, approvals, and performance via Google Ads. Our take: As costs rise and brand safety concerns mount, Open Call could tilt the branded content ecosystem in favor of marketers. It simplifies creator discovery, improves ROI measurement, and could lead to longer-term omnichannel partnerships. YouTube’s move positions it as a central hub for scalable, data-informed influencer marketing.

The news: YouTube unveiled Open Call at Cannes Lions 2025, a new platform-native feature allowing advertisers to post campaign briefs that monetized creators can directly respond to with self-produced content. The initiative removes the need for traditional influencer matchmaking, giving brands centralized control over content submissions, approvals, and performance via Google Ads. Our take: As costs rise and brand safety concerns mount, Open Call could tilt the branded content ecosystem in favor of marketers. It simplifies creator discovery, improves ROI measurement, and could lead to longer-term omnichannel partnerships. YouTube’s move positions it as a central hub for scalable, data-informed influencer marketing.

Spotify is doubling down on podcast engagement: New features arrive as listenership and advertiser demand both hit record highs.

The news: TikTok announced updates to its ad capabilities focused on the evolving creator ecosystem at its fifth annual TikTok World event. Updates included an analytics tool for audience insights at different stages of the buying cycle, promotions targeting audiences likely to take action, and multiple changes to TikTok One. Our take: TikTok’s new offerings are key to reassuring advertisers and creators that the platform’s influencer tools still outperform rivals. The features will convince advertisers that TikTok is essential to connect with relevant creators, while showing creators that TikTok remains the best place to make partnerships.

The rest of the year is top-of-mind for leaders in marketing and retail, which they expect to be challenging but riddled with opportunities to stand out from competition.

Protogiannis called it the most exciting development yet, noting that it helps link real audience behavior to media spend. In an industry increasingly focused on accountability, Nexxen and LG Ads are showing how advanced tools and human analysis can work together to deliver deeper insights and more confident decision-making.

This adds a level of ROAS [return on ad spend] precision they can't achieve in other channels.". Here are three reasons marketers should embrace the affiliate space:. 1. Affiliate marketing delivers full-funnel impact. While affiliate is a performance channel, its value isn't limited to the bottom of the funnel.

Publicis purchases influencer marketing platform Captiv8: The deal highlights that marketers are seeing influencers as a must-have for brand growth.

54% of global marketers are slashing ad spend, says Nielsen: The need for adaptability, rather than bigger budgets, is more prominent than ever.

Amazon’s share of ecommerce channel ad spending will decline by about a point this year and next year, then slide a bit further in 2025, to 75.1%. Competitors’ off-site growth will drive this shift.