蘑菇AV

Trump鈥檚 鈥淟iberation Day鈥� tariffs landed harder than expected. Uncertainty remains, given the pause on reciprocal tariffs for countries willing to negotiate with the US鈥攁long with an escalating trade war with China. Which markets will take the greatest hits? And how might our US forecasts change?

In another first, RE/MAX launched its real estate media network late last year, which will serve search ads for businesses related to home improvement, insurance, and safety. 鈥淲e want brands that are really going to elevate us and partner with us, helping the home-buyer and seller in their journey,鈥� said Abby Lee, executive vice president of marketing communications and events.

This comes as Google鈥檚 search ad business gets squeezed. Historically, Google hasn鈥檛 needed YouTube to pull its weight. It鈥檚 now starting to take more of the slack, because it has to. YouTube鈥檚 jack-of-all-trades identity could also be a limiting factor in its ad take. It has more overall users than Facebook, Netflix, or Spotify and a greater amount of total raw engagement (in terms of time spent).

Target has taken buying search ads in-house. In March 2024, Target changed the way advertisers can buy search ads, bringing more advertisers into direct contact with Target鈥檚 ad sellers. Search ad sales had previously been handled by Criteo. 蘑菇AV research is based on the idea that multiple sources and a variety of perspectives lead to better analysis.

But strong early growth of products such as TikTok鈥檚 Smart Performance Campaign and social search ads shows that advertiser approaches to social networks are far from calcifying. Differentiation delivers growth for social鈥檚 second tier. For years, smaller social networks did their best to keep up with Meta and TikTok by bolting features such as Stories and short-form video onto their platforms.

In the first 100 days of his second term, President Trump has reshaped business strategy across retail, tech, healthcare, and media. Here鈥檚 how tariffs, regulation, and market volatility are forcing brands to rethink spend, growth, and planning.

AI agents are revolutionizing marketing with autonomous capabilities that go far beyond traditional automation. Organizations are implementing AI agents to boost workflow efficiency and prepare for a consumer marketplace increasingly mediated by AI.

The news: Microsoft Advertising now enforces policy compliance at the asset level鈥攁d headlines, descriptions, and images will be reviewed individually. If one element violates policy, the rest of the ad can stay live, as long as the minimum required approved assets remain, per MarTech. Key takeaway: Marketers should embrace modular creative strategies, ensuring each individual asset is in compliance. Build campaigns with redundancy in approved elements to maintain uptime, and monitor flagged assets to quickly respond and ensure ad integrity.

The trend: Global visits to the top 100 web domains fell nearly 7% from March 2022 to March 2025, per Semrush, with Google鈥檚 own traffic down 6.4%, according to Similarweb as cited by DataReportal. Our take: Search is no longer a neutral traffic driver. Marketers need to plan for a world where clicks don鈥檛 come easy and genAI responses, not blue links, dictate traffic and visibility. GEO strategies must ensure brands are surfaced in genAI outputs. Marketers should focus on first-party data, brand-owned channels, and social, especially since platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube are increasingly becoming primary search paths for younger users.

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.

The news: Global ad spend growth is slowing but staying positive, with WARC projecting a 6.2% rise to $1.16 trillion in 2025 and MAGNA forecasting a 4.9% climb to $979 billion. Retail media is outpacing linear TV for the first time, and Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon continue to control the majority of digital revenues. Measurable channels like short-form video, retail media, and ad-supported VOD are gaining ground. Our take: Amid economic pressures and trade concerns, advertisers are prioritizing performance, shifting budgets geographically and platform-wise. With elections, AI, and major global events on the horizon, platforms that prove outcomes鈥攏ot impressions鈥攚ill shape the next era.

There are now more than 80 retail media networks (RMNs) in the US. The volume of RMNs, combined with the dominance of Amazon and other established competitors, makes it challenging for new and niche RMNs to capture share.

Brazil鈥檚 digital economy continues to thrive, driven by shifting advertising trends and increased social media usage. This report series explores key media consumption trends in Brazil in 2025.

Google is monetizing AI search interfaces aggressively: But users, advertisers, and publishers remain skeptical of trust, data, and fairness.

Brazil鈥檚 digital advertising economy continues to thrive, driven by retail media investment, growing video ad spend, and slower social ad spending. This report explores trends shaping Brazil鈥檚 digital advertising landscape in 2025.鈥�

Google expands ads into AI Mode: But marketers lack visibility into performance as analytics gaps persist.

Strong Q1 ad results show resilience: But AI, tariffs, and antitrust pressures will reshape how and where marketers spend in 2025.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss what we expect from consumer spending in Q2, the three scenarios we expect for total media (and digital) ad spending, and how marketers are reacting to everything. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Forecasting Writer Ethan Cramer-Flood, and Senior Forecasting Analyst Zach Goldner. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.