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Retailers worldwide will spend $4.09 billion advertising on YouTube this year, per WARC Media. Next year, that figure will increase by nearly half a billion to $4.56 billion.

Google put ads in its Search Generative Experience. YouTube has a new unskippable 30-second ad spot. HBO Max relaunched as Max. And The Kroger Co. is paving the way with in-store retail media. Here are what updates from these companies and more mean for advertisers.

Among other platforms, Instagram鈥檚 SOV came to 11.0% and YouTube was 3.5%. The Industry KPI data illustrates the importance of TikTok to clothing brands as uncertainty clouds the app鈥檚 future in the US. President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week halting enforcement of a US ban on the popular app for 75 days, though it is still unavailable on US app stores.

Several of the biggest AI players in the world, including Nvidia, Apple, Salesforce, and Anthropic, were accused of scraping thousands of YouTube videos for genAI model training without creators鈥� knowledge. The New York Times, Wired, Forbes, and The Shortcut accused AI search startup Perplexity of content theft and scraping articles without attribution.

The news: Google, YouTube, and Pinterest鈥檚 shares of US paid media traffic increased between Q4 2024 and January 20, 2025, while TikTok and Meta鈥檚 declined, according to analytics provider MikMak, which analyzed real-time commerce data from 2,000 brand customers and adjusted it for seasonality. (MikMak is an 蘑菇AV KPI data partner.).

The biggest beneficiaries of CTV ad spending are YouTube, Amazon, and Roku, but Netflix will grow the fastest, with 55.9% YoY growth in ad spending in 2025. Social network ad spending continues to charge ahead. Although retail media is growing a little faster, social media ad spending will increase 12.8% YoY in 2025.

Provided Google doesn鈥檛 divest all of its ad tech鈥攗nlikely given the wealth of YouTube and search inventory it monetizes鈥攖he company is still one of the most well-resourced in the space, particularly where AI is concerned.

MySports鈥� $69.99 is significantly more expensive than Venu鈥檚 planned launch price but still cheaper than competing pay TV and sports services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Fubo鈥攖hough its packages that contain specialty sports like the SEC eclipse competitors鈥� pricing.

The news: Meta, Google, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, X, LinkedIn, and others pledged to improve their platforms鈥� content moderation efforts in the EU. The companies signed a revised code to the European Commission鈥檚 Digital Services Act (DSA).

Google鈥檚 involvement in the country is limited to consulting with Chinese businesses looking to advertise on foreign Google platforms like Search and YouTube. The investigation is most likely centered on Google鈥檚 Android platform, which is used by Chinese smartphone manufacturers鈥攍ike Oppo, Vivo, ZTE, OnePlus, and Xiaomi鈥攖hat license the operating system.

YouTube TV has the largest share of viewers at 23.3 million, with Hulu + Live TV in second at 11.6 million. Our take: This deal clears the way for Venu Sports to launch in 2025, potentially setting the stage for a presence at this year鈥檚 Upfronts. It鈥檚 also an indication of continued media consolidation under the incoming administration.

Athletes can try to build community elsewhere, like on Instagram and YouTube, but any threat to TikTok will put a damper on NIL deals. Relationships tend to expire with eligibility. The value college athletes provide marketers is typically rooted in the team they play for. Some superstars become marketable in their own right, and college is just the beginning of their career as a brand spokesperson.

Those limitations have lessened somewhat on more current Nintendo consoles, as the Switch features a number of streaming service apps like Hulu and YouTube (however, notable players like Netflix and Max are still absent). The Switch 2 is poised to become a more prominent CTV device.

Celebrity-driven spots featuring Post Malone and Doja Cat ensure appeal to younger audiences, who split their attention between traditional TV and digital platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Super Bowl ads go beyond entertainment鈥攖hey鈥檙e an investment in brand identity and cultural relevance. With this year鈥檚 lineup, brands are set to make a lasting impression well beyond game night.

YouTube鈥檚 ad business took a hit in the latter half of 2022, with revenues down year over year in both Q3 and Q4. The company has since hired a new CEO, hiked YouTube TV prices, and introduced podcasts to YouTube Music to try to reverse the downward trend.

LinkedIn is the social platform most commonly used by B2B marketers and their clients worldwide, according to a LinkedIn survey conducted by Ipsos. YouTube takes second place, followed by Facebook and Instagram.

Last week, Arc, a web browser from startup The Browser Company, released a new AI-powered feature called pinch-to-summarize, which provides an instant summary of full web pages. That follows Arc鈥檚 release of 鈥淎rc Search,鈥� a mobile app that will search the internet based on a user鈥檚 query and deliver an AI-generated page summarizing the breadth of information it searched. It鈥檚 not the only AI tool targeting search. Perplexity is seeing increased attention for its ability to summarize data sets, including searching in Reddit posts or YouTube videos. This month also saw the rebranding of Google鈥檚 Bard chatbot to Gemini as the company doubles down on AI search.

Our take: TikTok Shop鈥檚 demise will create a host of opportunities for players across the retail landscape鈥攆rom social media platforms like Meta, YouTube, and Pinterest that could benefit from shoppers鈥� newfound interest in social commerce to retailers like Amazon and Shein that are already popular with TikTok users. Go further: Read our FAQ on the US TikTok Ban.

But live event strategies now extend beyond traditional sports, with platforms like Amazon and YouTube securing rights to other live content like award shows to create highly-coveted ad inventory. Younger demographics' higher tolerance for ads during live content (69%) has sparked fierce competition for sports rights, with Amazon securing NBA games and YouTube winning NFL Sunday Ticket.

What retailers and brands need to know: Like their Gen Z forebears, Gen Alpha has discerning tastes, honed by an incessant flow of beauty content on TikTok and YouTube. Bright, colorful packaging helps but isn鈥檛 enough to win them over.

. #4: YouTube. What fueled interest: In February, we reported that YouTube was the top-watched streamer for 12 consecutive months; by midyear, YouTube racked up the best-ever US TV viewership month for a streaming platform. CEO Neal Mohan attributed much of the growth to sports content and CTV viewing.

Over one-quarter of Gen Zers and millennials begin their online research on social media鈥擥en Zers on TikTok and Instagram, and millennials on Facebook and YouTube. Consumers across generations look up medical conditions and symptoms online, and millennials research providers and health insurance companies more than other cohorts.

YouTube leverages AI for content creation, media buying, data analysis, and campaign personalization. YouTube鈥檚 B2B ad revenues will exceed $298 million in 2024. There鈥檚 increasing demand for video content, driven by the influence of social media platforms where audiences expect to view videos. YouTube鈥檚 B2B ad revenues will grow 12.1% YoY in 2024.

I think that creator products is a great point, and that's something that a lot of YouTube creators or creators that have started on YouTube are really invested in, so that's definitely a place where we'll continue to see that. What about the brands that are currently selling on TikTok shop or aren't? What should brands do about TikTok shop right now to prepare for the uncertain future?