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It was first in the region to fully embrace retail media advertising, fueled by advanced digital advertising and retail ecommerce behaviors. The UK leads France and Germany in digital ad spend as a proportion of total media spend, as well as retail ecommerce sales as a proportion of total retail sales. Still, retail media investments are steadily increasing in all three countries.

This is the first installment of our 鈥淯K Ad Spending Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.鈥嬧��

They can evaluate past shopper behavior to predict what products they might be most interested in. Financial institutions have huge potential to capitalize on their own first-party data of where people shop, but they鈥檒l need to do so in a way that doesn鈥檛 creep consumers out or draw regulator ire.

The news: China reiterated that it will not sell TikTok鈥檚 algorithm to the US in accordance with Chinese laws as the September 17 sale deadline looms. The announcement comes almost immediately after the White House launched an official TikTok account in a move Chinese officials stated 鈥渃ontradicts the 鈥榥ational security threat鈥� rhetoric.鈥� Our take: With no definitive answer on TikTok鈥檚 future in the US, advertisers are in a difficult spot. Divestment risks losing access to audiences motivated to take action鈥攂ut investing too heavily risks overreliance on a channel that could face major changes.

The news: Advertisers are increasing investment in up-and-coming digital advertising channels as the shift away from traditional continues, per a DoubleVerify study. Social media maintains the highest level of investment among North American marketers. Seventy-nine percent are already investing, while 19% have plans to. Our take: High-performing traditional ad formats are being overlooked because they鈥檙e harder to measure鈥攂ut optimizing for attribution over outcomes could come at a cost.

The big idea: Pharma marketers should pivot away from TV advertising even if the government doesn鈥檛 implement a ban on D2C drug ads. Our take: Pharma is a unique industry that still benefits from linear TV. However, more drug brands should consider D2C online platforms that serve as quasi substitutes to TV commercials at a much lower cost, plus channels like influencer partnerships.

The news: China is outpacing the US in retail media鈥檚 global rise, with nearly half of its digital ad spending now flowing through retail platforms. While Amazon still leads globally, its growth is slowing鈥攅xpected to rise just 18.6% in 2025. Meanwhile, players like Uber Eats, Meijer, and Albertsons are growing ad revenues at triple-digit rates. Our take: Retail media is becoming more fragmented and competitive. Success now requires portfolio diversification, especially as new channels鈥攍ike last-mile delivery and in-store signage鈥攇ain momentum. What began as an Amazon-centric, US-led trend is now a worldwide shift reshaping how consumers discover, consider, and buy.

The news: Out-of-home (OOH) and TV advertising are outperforming popular channels like connected TV (CTV) and digital across metrics, per a five-year study from Clear Channel Outdoor and Kantar. Our take: OOH and TV advertising will continue playing a critical role in an effective omnichannel strategy, and the most savvy advertisers will recognize the enduring effectiveness of these channels for reaching key audiences when they鈥檙e likely to purchase.

WeChat鈥檚 Weixin (China): An all-in-one platform for social networking, payments, ecommerce, and more, with over 1.3 billion users in China. VKontakte (VK) (Russia): Russia鈥檚 leading social network, similar to Facebook, with over 60 million daily users. Nextdoor (USA): A neighborhood-focused platform for local community engagement and business promotion in the US.

The news: Pinterest will host high-performing influencer content posted on affiliate shopping platform LTK, automatically bringing popular images from the platform to Pinterest, according to The Verge. Pinterest also hired Chip Jessopp, former Amazon director of global accounts and ad tech sales, as head of programmatic, per Digiday. Jessopp will help Pinterest create new demand channels while scaling its programmatic abilities. Our take: Pinterest鈥檚 moves could better position it as a legitimate competitor in digital advertising and a promising growth area for influencers and marketers鈥攇iving the platform more legs against social commerce giants like Meta and TikTok.

Retail media will set the pace for digital advertising growth in the coming years as more retailers invest in monetizing the channel and more advertising options become available to media buyers.

As China鈥檚 retail media advertising market begins to mature, off-site channels鈥攊ncluding WeChat and Douyin, TikTok's sister app in China鈥攚ill increasingly drive growth.

Programmatic plays a small but growing role in digital audio services ad spending. Major digital audio platforms are leaning in.

The news: Reddit published a report Thursday highlighting its increasing relevance for advertisers as social media users gain trust in the platform for purchase decisions. Reddit routinely delivers promising ad results. Adding Reddit to ad campaigns leads to $6.94 higher incremental ROAS across channels. Our take: Despite lingering brand hesitancy to adopt Reddit as a core advertising channel, the platform is increasingly becoming a reliable source that promises high returns鈥攎aking it a key part of an effective campaign for advertisers who know how to navigate it.

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.