蘑菇AV

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鈥檚 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鈥攁nd 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.

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

The news: DoorDash鈥檚 acquisition spree continued with its $175 million purchase of ad tech firm Symbiosis. The deal will expand the company鈥檚 offsite capabilities, enabling advertisers to run campaigns across search, social and display channels that are integrated with DoorDash鈥檚 closed-loop measurement system. Our take: DoorDash鈥檚 Symbiosis acquisition and ad updates should help the company attract bigger brands and retailers to its ad platform鈥攅specially as demand for its core delivery services remains healthy.

The news: Dick鈥檚 Sporting Goods鈥� retail media arm, Dick鈥檚 Media, is partnering with Roku to bring its shopper data to connected TV, per Adweek. Our take: Dick鈥檚 sees retail media as a long-term growth engine, and its partnership with Roku should enhance its ability to compete with larger players by combining rich loyalty data with precise streaming insights. While Dick鈥檚 Media already offered brands a robust mix of in-store and digital ad opportunities, the expanded Roku partnership enables more targeted, measurable, and high-impact campaigns鈥攅specially as connected TV becomes a core pillar in the modern advertising mix.

Nearly half (45%) of advertisers plan to reduce overall ad spend due to financial constraints from tariffs, according to February 2025 data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Nearly three-quarters of advertisers expect ad budgets to shrink less than 10%. However, 22% believe ad budgets could decline by 11% to 20%. This will affect how much ad spend flows into retail media.

Digital ad spend in Latin America is set to reach 56.4% of total ad spend in 2025, per 蘑菇AV鈥檚 forecast. As the region鈥檚 digital landscape matures, media quality, and performance are becoming top priorities for advertisers.

Amazon introduced greater brand safety controls on its DSP in February after Amazon, Google, and Meta were criticized by Congress for placing ads on sites with child sexual abuse content. 41% of US marketers are decreasing ad spend with media companies because of concerns over brand safety and suitability controls for ads鈥攁nd more may follow suit without greater control over where ads run across platforms

The news: Amazon鈥檚 Private Auction is quietly reshaping the CTV landscape by introducing more flexible buying on Prime Video. The format allows smaller advertisers and performance marketers to compete for inventory through open bidding, bypassing the need for costly guaranteed placements. As CPMs decline and the demand for agility rises, this move gives brands better control over pricing and access. Our take: While big brands may still favor premium guarantees, Amazon鈥檚 shift reflects broader momentum toward programmatic efficiency. By inviting direct-response buyers into the Prime Video ecosystem, Amazon is not just monetizing scale鈥攊t鈥檚 redefining what CTV access looks like in 2025.

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鈥攂ut remain cautious about complete CTV adoption, as opaque ad placements and looming economic pressures spell an uncertain future.

Click here to view our full forecast for US livestreaming retail ecommerce buyers. Livestreaming ecommerce isn鈥檛 as big in the US as it is in China, but it has proven to be tenable. Its popularity in China, where 47.2% of digital buyers will be livestream buyers, remains unmatched.

Retailers that provide access to specific consumers with distinct shopping behaviors may see their competitive edge eroded. And advertisers that don鈥檛 take context into account may invest unwisely. Some retailers will adopt a 鈥測es ... and鈥� approach to measurement by providing two versions of some KPIs.

TMN ad spending will represent a fraction of total digital ad spending. TMN ad spending as a share of digital ad spending is set to increase modestly, from 0.7% in 2024 to 0.8% in 2026. While commerce media will continue to be dominated by ad spending on RMNs, TMNs make up a distant second tier, ahead of ad spending within the still-nascent financial media network (FMN) cohort.

TikTok made updates to Symphony Creative Studio鈥攊ts AI-powered video ad generation tool鈥攁nd 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.

The apparel and accessories category will increase its share of retail ad spend over the next few years, while other sectors will reel in their spending, according to our US Retail Industry Digital Ad Spending 2023 report. Use this chart:. Track US retail digital ad spend over time. More like this:. Why retail media standardization may take a while.

In-store retail media ad spend will reach $1.06 billion by 2028, accounting for 0.8% of all retail media spend, according to our March 2024 forecast.

US retail media ad spend will hit $45.15 billion this year, an increase of almost 20% over 2022, according to our forecast. Growth will accelerate each year through 2027, when we expect spend to reach $106.12 billion.

US retail media ad spend will more than double between 2023 and 2027, reaching a total of $109.40 billion, according to our forecast.

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鈥檚 new offerings are key to reassuring advertisers and creators that the platform鈥檚 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.

Retail media will account for about 1 in 5 digital ad dollars this year. That鈥檚 about double the share it held in 2020. We expect it to surpass the one-quarter mark by 2028.

Additionally, Home Chef used KPM鈥檚 shopper data to reach lapsed customers and in-market shoppers and measure performance after a streaming campaign on Roku. The campaign achieved 2.4 times the return on ad spend, and delivered a 20.6% lift in sales among new buyers. Home Chef was able to recapture lapsed buyers and activate a new segment of meal kit customers.

Our own retail media network offsite ad spending forecast has the category set to grow 64.1% this year to $11.04 billion. The two figures don鈥檛 tie up because of varying definitions, but both forecasts show the category is becoming a significant driver of retail media writ large.

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.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss how standardization can unlock retail media spend, when we are likely to see it, and where the future of targeting is headed. Then for "Red-Hot Retail," our analysts give us some spicy predictions about the future of retail media ad buying. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analyst Max Willens and vice president of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions Nicole Perrin.

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