蘑菇AV

Over half (57.8%) of US consumers prefer to use Google search over AI platforms like ChatGPT when they need a factual answer, according to a December 2024 survey from Pearl conducted by Censuswide.

No matter when or how they land, President Donald Trump鈥檚 tariffs will shake up retail and digital media.

Digital鈥檚 share of total media ad spending will hit almost 78% in 2024 and exceed even this high number in some industries. This report looks at some factors that correlate with an industry鈥檚 digital spending.

Marketers are just starting to familiarize themselves with machine-to-machine (M2M) marketing, where a brand AI agent and a consumer AI agent navigate decision-making. The next step is preparing for this AI-driven method of influencing consumers, by examining how agents 鈥渦nderstand鈥� their brands and work to improve those impressions.

Payment processing solutions from major US digital commerce platforms are maturing and capturing a greater share of their retail ecommerce sales. Here鈥檚 how five platforms are approaching the payment facilitator (payfac) model to catapult their growth.

Temu pulls its Google Shopping ads: The escalating US-China trade war puts the company鈥檚 business model at risk and threatens ad giants like Meta and Google.

鈥淚 have different metrics for SEO than [search engine marketing] or email marketing, but how do you bring all those together so they really complement each other well?鈥� said Sara Resnick, global head of organic growth and SEO at Shutterstock. Michaels is focusing on marketplace and customer experience (CX). This year, Michaels launched MakerPlace, an online marketplace meant to compete with Etsy.

How can ad buyers calibrate their B2B ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how can publishers and solution providers assess whether their ad revenues are in line with industry trends?

How can ad buyers calibrate their ad spending and budget allocations against average for their industry, and how can publishers and solution providers assess whether their ad revenues are in line with industry trends?

This is the second installment of our quarterly 鈥淎d Spending Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

41% of US advertisers expecting budget cuts due to tariffs plan to cut from social media, while 24% plan cuts to linear TV and gaming, per February 2025 from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Brands are increasing investments in influencer marketing, and placing a greater emphasis on measuring ROI as a result. Measurement remains a challenge, but there are steps marketers can take to ensure campaigns align with business goals.

GenAI is changing pharma marketing from content creation to pharmacovigilance. Brand marketers and agencies are moving from experimentation to broad adoption of AI assistance and more efficient, effective, and relevant consumer communications.

Generative AI search engine Perplexity said it will launch ads in Q4, but the platform will need to win over advertisers and convince them their search ad spend will go further than it does on Google.

Amazon and Walmart are search advertising鈥檚 growth engines: The latter is a distant second to the former, accounting for nearly 4 in 10 non-Amazon retail media search ad dollars this year.

TikTok-fueled impulse buying is redrawing the affiliate marketing landscape. As shoppers skip the research phase and rely on creator recommendations, brands are rethinking how they build trust, drive conversions, and stay ahead of trends.

Turbulence in trade relations is changing how China鈥檚 ecommerce platforms do business in the US, with spillover effects on US retail and advertising.

AI is revolutionizing B2B SEO. Many AI tools are included in established SEO tools. The tools are integrated into SEO tasks, including keyword research, competitive analysis, and performance tracking. This helps marketers gain deeper data insights into user search patterns and behaviors, which can inform more-effective SEO strategies.

Paid search CPMs declined by double digits YoY every quarter in the past four quarters鈥�29% in Q2 2023 alone, per Skai. Paid search CTRs have not seen the same pattern of decline.

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.

Amazon will pull in over 80% of US retail media search dollars this year, per our forecast. But Walmart will continue growing its share of non-Amazon retail media search ad spending over the next two years.

Digital ad spend is growing and going increasingly toward programmatic formats. Search ad spend is on the rise as well, as retail media growth remains healthy. And social media is in better shape than previously projected. Here are five recent charts forecasting the future of ad spend.

鈥淕oogle will account for over half of search ad spending this year, but Google's not the perfect fit for every query that every person could ever ask,鈥� our analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf said on a recent 蘑菇AV webinar. 鈥淚t never has been, and now consumers are also going elsewhere to satisfy their search needs.鈥�

Retail media will stay ahead of connected TV (CTV) in US ad spending and close in on traditional TV this year, according to our forecast. Search overall, including paid search on retail media networks, will reach $108.48 billion in 2023.