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With retail media exploding and new retail media networks popping up seemingly every week, Ethan Goodman EVP of digital commerce at The Mars Agency thinks, "There's not enough money to go around for this to be sustainable." In a recent Digiday article from Kimeko McCoy, he was cited as saying, "Once you get past a certain point, the offerings start to blur together.

In addition to China, there's also a demand in North America from online commerce advertisers. In Europe, in the EU, one of the things that really helped it was that a year ago was the start of the Ukraine War, and so that made that quarter very challenging. So this quarter looked better in comparison. Marcus Johnson:. Okay. Debra Aho Williamson:.

It now overshadows US rivals YouTube, Instagram, and Snap in that arena鈥攁 testament to TikTok鈥檚 dominance as the leading platform for social video and commerce. TikTok鈥檚 return to US app stores drove a 91% decline in downloads for RedNote, the rival Chinese social app that became the most downloaded free app on US app stores last month.

Gen Z is a driving force behind this behavioral shift, as they continue to seek connection in smaller circles online. The platforms are catering to those behaviors. New, compelling features could shift even more activity away from the main feeds, especially as concerns about toxic content and mental health rise this year. Instagram launched Notes, Broadcast Channels, and 鈥淐lose Friends鈥� features.

Why it matters: While LinkedIn鈥檚 hiring-related revenue has slowed according to the earnings report, the platform is reinventing itself as a content and commerce hub for professional audiences.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about making sure when that person is influenced by a recommendation from a creator and goes online to buy something, you have your retail media ad there and capture that demand.鈥�. Challenging the creator marketing silo. Some 94% of marketers are using influencer content outside of influencers鈥� organic posts, according to Linqia鈥檚 鈥�2025 State of Influencer Marketing鈥� report.

Baidu鈥檚 XiLing Digital Avatar 4.0 can now generate industry-specific 3D digital avatars at a significantly lower cost. Marketers who focus on genAI in products as a selling point could stand to benefit. Products and services with genAI have significant appeal to consumers in Asia-Pacific.

With scale, commerce data, and rising supply, Amazon has a shot at making Prime Video the most performance-ready environment in connected TV. Frequent engagement makes Prime Video a strong option for advertisers aiming for reliable reach鈥攁nd if experience quality holds, churn is unlikely to spike.

The trend toward CTV will be especially pronounced as retail media turns into commerce media. Retailers far outrank financial service, travel, and ride-sharing platforms in terms of traffic, according to Comscore. As these non-retail industries invest in ad networks, they鈥檒l need partnerships with other industries like CTV to provide inventory that will actually reach consumers.

What do brands need to know about the next wave of digital growth?

Key stat: After being inspired by something they saw on TV, almost three-fourths of US viewers (71.5%) either searched online to consider purchasing it, purchased it, or both, according to an August 2024 survey from Shopsense AI and 蘑菇AV.

While native commerce may be out of fashion among platforms (besides TikTok), interest in commerce-focused ad products seems to be picking up, particularly among second-tier platforms including Pinterest, Snapchat, and X. In Q1, Snap retrained its ad platform to focus on driving in-stream conversions.

The year started with a flurry of commerce media news, from Meijer Media expanding into off-site channels to Microsoft鈥檚 new ad capabilities.

Key Stat: The return of consumer risk to pre-pandemic levels has resulted in tightened credit card loan standards, crimping US credit card digital account opening growth鈥攁nd calling for new thinking on how to acquire customers. Executive Summary. Marketers need to innovate in the face of tapering US digital account opening growth.

While the long-term effects of Trump鈥檚 tariff moves will take time to settle, the immediate takeaway is simple: Agility, not size or proximity, will define success in this new era of commerce. This content is part of 蘑菇AV鈥檚 subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports.

Video remains one of the most memorable ad formats, with 43% of US consumers recalling commerce video ads and 22% recalling social video ads. Meta鈥檚 investment in video ad tools should enhance the effectiveness and recall of its ad formats, ensuring advertisers benefit from higher engagement.

"AI is causing a shift in the shopping landscape, and we are seeing tech companies really go for a kind of grab of commerce rather than just supporting it," said our analyst Carina Perkins on a recent podcast episode of the "Behind the Numbers.鈥�. The gap between retailer focus and consumer needs.