蘑菇AV

California law curbs deceptive ads for digital goods: By 2025, sellers must clearly state when products are licensed rather than owned.

Nearly half (49%) of online gamers are millennials, putting the generation ahead of all others, according to July 2024 data from Comscore.

Key stat: In-game purchases accounted for 43% of PC and console revenues in 2023, per NewZoo, with gamers spending $50 billion annually. Gaming companies face fallout: The complaint focuses on popular titles like Epic Games鈥� Fortnite, Microsoft鈥檚 Minecraft, and Supercell鈥檚 Clash of Clans.

Revenue data came from our March 2025 US CTV ad spending forecast. Our forecast includes digitally sold ad inventory that appears on TV screens. It excludes linear TV inventory. The graphic includes gross ad revenues for YouTube, rather than net ad revenues. Because YouTube shares a substantial portion of its ad revenues with creators, the gross forecast better reflects the scope of its ad business.

Roblox wants to be an ecommerce platform: After a pilottesting physical goods sales with Walmart and E.l.f. Beauty, the gaming platform sees big potential in online sales.

US ad spending faces a slowdown: Economic uncertainty, tariffs, and inflation are prompting advertisers to cut budgets, with 2025 ad growth forecasts declining.

Roblox plants deeper roots in the creator economy: The video game platform is at a fascinating crossroads of gaming and digital advertising.

On today's episode, we discuss the significance of Netflix saying it has 5 million monthly active users on its ad tier, the biggest impacts of the new streaming service Max, and how much noise a combined Paramount+ and Showtime offering can make. "In Other News," we talk about the current state of esports and what the best connected TV (CTV) ad formats are. Tune in to the discussion with our director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman.

Advertising angle: With viewers spending an average of 95 minutes per day on Twitch, per Quintly, advertisers get access to highly engaged audiences and targeted reach. Twitch鈥檚 demographics also skew toward millennials and Gen Z, which are harder to reach through traditional channels. Our take: Twitch has shown it can tap into community-driven engagement and diversify beyond gaming content.

Makers of movies, TV shows, and immersive video games want to advertise in a way that reflects the product鈥攏amely via video. Traditionally, the industry has spent heavily on TV, but it鈥檚 rapidly making the transition to digital video.

Fire TV also propels Amazon鈥檚 gaming ambitions. Amazon has integrated its cloud gaming platform Luna as an app within Fire TV, which could boost anemic subscription monetization. Twitch also comes built-in, further increasing revenue opportunities through commission fees on sponsorships, merchandise sales, and donations. How does this affect our rating?

Connected TV (CTV) has emerged as the fastest-growing ad channel tracked by 蘑菇AV. Its ad spend outpaced other digital ads, search, social media, and retail media in 2024.

That鈥檚 far from the only recent move in this space; in February, Disney invested $1.5 billion into Epic Games to create a persistent, live-service video game involving its media properties, signaling a significant move into the gaming and metaverse arena.

Roughly half as many gamers play on consoles or desktops/laptops as on mobile, meaning the average console gamer spends more time playing on a console than the average mobile gamer does on mobile. Additional devices may become more important in the future. Consoles dominate the 鈥渙ther鈥� category today, but VR headsets and connected cars may play a bigger role in the future.

Things aren鈥檛 all that bad for Big Tech: Sustaining pandemic-era revenues was likely never realistic. But major tech companies are still raking in enormous profits, despite Wall Street investors鈥� outcry.