蘑菇AV

Google will fall below a 50% share of the US search advertising market next year for the first time since we started tracking it in 2008, per our forecast. It鈥檚 a pivotal time for paid search, with Google鈥檚 ad dominance threatened by generative AI, social media, retail media, and lawsuits. Meanwhile, ad-averse consumers are becoming hesitant to click search ads. Here are four trends our exclusive KPI data reveal about Google, retail media, and the future of paid search.

As the retail media industry evolves, marketers are embracing new formats such as open web, social media, and streaming TV to reach customers earlier in their buying journey and increase brand recognition. To accomplish this, we鈥檒l see retailers form collaborative alliances with social media companies, streaming platforms, and publishers.

Instacart expands offsite retail media capabilities with YouTube partnership: The retailer鈥檚 first-party data will power shoppable ads for CPG brands

Retail media is the fastest-growing ad channel we track in the US, growing by 26.0% this year. Its share of total US media spend will reach 14.1% this year, and come 2028, nearly 1 in 5 ad dollars spent in the US will go to retail media. But the channel has the potential to grow even more. Here are four key factors that present challenges to retail media growth right now.

While the gaming industry does not get as much attention from marketers as connected TV (CTV) or retail media, it is in the midst of a long stretch of exceptional ad revenue growth. The $10 billion mark is not far off. In-game ads have become more attractive to major advertisers.

As retail media moves both off-site and in-store, audio is becoming a bigger part of the ad mix. Here are two ways brands can incorporate audio into their retail media activations.

The travel and retail industries will post healthy digital ad spending growth figures this year, but many other verticals we track will underperform compared with the national growth average. Next year is looking better for almost all of them.

Even though advertisers were less likely to spend on unproven channels, one relatively new trend thrived: retail media networks. Eager to capture growing search revenues, countless retailers from Michaels to Instacart launched ad networks, and the market is rapidly surging. US retail media ad spending will grow 25.8% next year to $51.36 billion, making up 18.1% of total US digital ad spend.

Think of off-site retail media as filling a bus with potential customers and driving them directly to your storefront, Bob Coon senior vice president of US sales at TripleLift, said during a recent 蘑菇AV webinar. But just delivering customers to your storefront doesn鈥檛 guarantee they will buy. Here鈥檚 what retailers and marketers need to know to take advantage of off-site retail media.

Key stat: Ads for products on sale are the most effective form of retail media advertising, with 51% of US digital shoppers saying they pay attention to them and 44% of digital shoppers saying they purchase from them, per Integral Ad Science.

With the rise of digital ad channels like connected TV and retail media, there鈥檚 a lot of emphasis on making every ad and consumer touchpoint shoppable. Ad formats with direct calls to action help drive conversions and increase ROI. But brand equity can get left out of the conversation when we focus on performance marketing in isolation. Every ad should perform and provide some sort of measurable impact, but each ad is also vital for telling a brand鈥檚 story, even at the bottom of the funnel where marketers are more focused on driving conversions.

Retail media provides a significant boost to Instacart鈥檚 bottom line: The company鈥檚 advertising business reportedly grew 30% last year to $740 million.

Retail Media Platforms Will Diversify to Compete With Amazon. Other retailers are coming for Amazon鈥檚 ad business. They鈥檝e all awoken to the revenue opportunity. Although Amazon commands more than three-quarters of US retail media ad spending, that will slowly change as other retailers diversify鈥攁nd fortify鈥攖heir offerings. Expect new partnerships and ad products in 2023.

With seemingly everyone jumping onto retail media, it may feel too late or intimidating to grab a piece of the pie. But that鈥檚 not the case, according to Jason Farver, Hy-Vee鈥檚 executive vice president, chief supply chain officer, and president of RedMedia.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 really exciting about retail media is a lot of it is uncharted territory,鈥� said Paul Longo, general manager of retail media at Microsoft. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in inning two, inning three. What鈥檚 gotten us here will not get us where things need to be.鈥�

From CTV to TikTok to Retail Media

Some 58% of Association of National Advertisers (ANA) marketers used retail media networks last year, according to a report from the ANA. In the next year, expect to see more movement from marketers outside of consumer packaged goods as brands look to take advantage of the recession-friendly ad space.

Why Chase wants to be a retail media network: It鈥檚 a huge opportunity for issuers to get in on. Retail media ad spending will total $140.04 billion worldwide in 2024, according to our forecasts, growing 21.8% YoY. Retailers have a narrow view of their customers鈥� spending habits.

Amazon is the biggest retail media network in the US, accounting for three-quarters of retail media revenue share, per our forecast. But its limited grocery footprint leaves an opportunity for competition. Here are recent updates in grocery retail media, and a prediction on the future of in-store retail media.