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Our take: A successful podcast push will require Netflix to stand out, offering unique value to advertisers through exclusive content and advertising opportunities that go beyond what existing podcast platforms provide. Netflix鈥檚 podcasts could provide unique value by integrating interactive ecommerce features, something that has been previously rumored.

Latin America鈥檚 ad market will surpass $40 billion this year as it continues to defy economic uncertainty. Rebounds in Argentina and Chile, along with double-digit growth in retail and social media spending, will fuel momentum. Here are the latest trends you need to know.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss our 鈥榲ery specific, but highly unlikely鈥� predictions for 2025. What would happen if Google preemptively broke itself into smaller pieces, if online shopping flatlined, and if the audio ad space doubled in size in short order. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Director of Reports Editing Rahul Chadha, and Senior Analysts Blake Droesch and Max Willens. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Major ecosystems like Apple Fitness+ and Google Health Connect allow users to track health metrics across devices while creating valuable channels for vendor partnerships. This integration enables tech vendors to generate revenues through subscription services and by providing advertisers and healthcare providers access to health-conscious audiences.

Click here to view our full forecast for retail media ad spending worldwide. 10 parent companies will have at least $10 billion in digital ad revenues worldwide in 2025. Google and YouTube will combine to bring Alphabet over $200 billion, a new advertising milestone. After Apple and Kuaishou joined the $10 billion club last year, the current corporate top 10 list should hold steady through 2026.

This is the Q1 2025 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.鈥�

The news: In a bold power play, Google dropped Android 16 just one day after Apple unveiled iOS 26 at WWDC, a divergence from its usual September release. The timing steals some of Apple鈥檚 spotlight, escalating the tech rivalry while injecting new energy into the smartphone wars. Key takeaway: Google鈥檚 fast-tracked and AI-infused Android 16 update signal a shift in mobile strategy aimed at overtaking the iPhone. Developers and advertisers should prioritize Pixel-first app experiences, optimize for desktop-like multitasking on mobile, and reimagine engagement for an OS that鈥檚 more utility driven. A Pixel-first rollout for Android 16 indicates Google is pushing its own hardware platform, making Pixels more attractive to consumers who want the latest features first.

The news: Cybersecurity researchers discovered 16 billion leaked login credential files across 30 previously unreported data sets. It鈥檚 considered the biggest data breach in history, affecting major platforms including Facebook, Google, Apple, GitHub, Telegram, and US government services, per Fortune. Our take: With billions of credentials now on the loose, marketers should treat brand systems as compromised. Auditing accounts, enforcing password resets, and demanding stricter multifactor or QR-code based methods are necessary safeguards. The cost of prevention pales compared to recovering from compromised campaigns, stolen customer data, and ransomware resulting in damaged brand reputation.

The news: Snap announced its sixth-generation AR smart glasses at the 2025 Augmented World Expo (AWE). The wearables will be available to the public for the first time since 2016, potentially unlocking a new revenue stream beyond ads. The lightweight consumer smart glasses, called Specs, will launch in 2026 and include an 鈥渦ltra-powerful wearable computer.鈥� Our take: Snap鈥檚 next-gen smart glasses could diversify its revenue streams and show off its AR prowess. But unless the price tag is affordable and competitive, users may continue to just use Snapchat鈥檚 AR filters on their phones.

Google, Amazon, and Apple are all pushing further into conversational audio, advancing products like Alexa and Siri. 鈥淭his basically puts together a perfect storm of conditions to grow an ad market really, really quickly,鈥� said our analyst Max Willens, predicting these conversational assistants will seamlessly integrate sponsored content.

The news: During a Congressional subcommittee hearing, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid out his vision for all Americans to use a wearable with health-tracking capabilities within four years. Our take: Marketers should use Kennedy鈥檚 enthusiasm for wearables to their advantage. They should get out in front of the government鈥檚 ad campaign by developing their own promotions that inform consumers of wearables鈥� evolved health-tracking features beyond just counting calories and steps. They could target people who aren鈥檛 as familiar or have never used a health wearable due to price concerns or lack of tech-savviness.

The news: Skims, the shapewear brand founded by Kim Kardashian, is on an expansion tear as it nears $1 billion in annual sales, per Business of Fashion. The company plans to open 16 stores in the US this year, bringing its total domestic footprint to 22. Over the next nine months, Skims expects to establish itself in seven new markets鈥攊ncluding stores in Mexico, London, and Dubai. Our take: While stores are hugely important to Skims鈥� growth, the company has several advantages over the rest of the D2C field. Unlike most other D2C companies, Skims doesn鈥檛 need to rely on its stores as billboards given its high-profile founder, who is also a fixture of its ad campaigns. Its partnership with Nike will give it access to an even larger audience and smooth its entry into the athleisure category鈥攁ssuming production delays don鈥檛 get in the way. The launch will also considerably increase Skims鈥� retail presence without needing to invest in premium real estate.

Meta and Apple receive first fines for DMA violation: The landmark decision marks the biggest effort to date to curb the market power of Big Tech.

CEO Aravind Srinivas says Comet will track user activity to build deep profiles for hyperpersonalized ads but risks alienating privacy-focused users.

In 2022, Google paid Apple $22 billion to be the default search engine in Safari. But Google is being challenged on multiple fronts for monopolistic practices. A federal judge ruled last week that Google operates an ad tech monopoly. In a separate case in August 2024, a judge ruled that the Big Tech company has an online search monopoly.

Apple, Google, Samsung, and Huawei are all launching AI-enabled smartphones with conversational search functionality. As more consumers get accustomed to those capabilities on mobile, desktop behaviors will start to shift. Brands and retailers will reassess their search strategies.

Rather than 鈥渉ard launches,鈥� banks will quietly grow existing ad services, like merchant-funded rewards and coupons, to develop full FMN platforms. Apple NFC opens doors for wallet competition. Apple iPhone users can now pick their default contactless app by clicking the phone鈥檚 side button.