Social media's new battleground: Messaging apps innovate with features like location-sharing and group chats to capture younger audiences.

Temu and Shein’s ad bidding war drove spending away from search: CPCs spiked after the two retailers claimed in-demand search ad space.

TikTok Shop gears up for busy holiday season in the US, UK: The platform expects hefty ecommerce and ad growth this year as shoppers get used to transacting on the app

As competition intensifies and consumers continue to seek value, retailers will need to double down on how to differentiate themselves and offer shoppers what they want, wherever they are.

Google and Meta landed slightly below expectations in Q3, allowing a collection of hungry competitors to inch ahead. But overall, the ad industry remains healthy. Sports events drove streaming and CTV to record gains, and retail media continues to be the sector’s fastest-growing ad channel.

Media and publishing has the highest TikTok engagement across six categories, with 317 shares per post and an engagement rate of 4.7%, according to June 2024 data from Dash Hudson.

With features like video and synced illustrations, Spotify seeks to rebrand as more than audio-only and tap into the growing audiobook market.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the takeaways from Netflix’s record-breaking boxing event, the chances of TikTok dodging a US ban under a Trump presidency, the future of “roadblock marketing”, Perplexity’s new feature that lets you buy things directly within its search engine, the true story that inspired the 1992 film “A League Of Their Own”, and more. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Director of Reports Editing Rahul Chadha, Senior Analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, and Senior Director of Forecasting Oscar Orozco.

New mothers are increasingly digitally native. But their digital habits are defined more by their children’s life stage than by their own generational cohort.

TikTok’s US ad CPMs will rise 15.6% in Q1 2025, a bigger increase than CPMs on Meta, Snapchat, or YouTube, according to our forecast.

Not only are underbanked individuals using cash, but others are gravitating to the payment method for emergency protections and for budgeting reasons

Luxury brands are grappling with downturns in the US and China, the largest markets for personal luxury goods, and will have to seize opportunities for growth from new markets and product innovation.

Retailers are prioritizing unified commerce solutions to help gain a complete picture of their business operations—including consumer behavior. As the tech landscape becomes more complex, key players are emerging across channels.

Some 88% of worldwide consumers say not trusting a brand is a dealbreaker when it comes to buying a product or using a service, according to Edelman. But building trust isn’t easy. Trust requires protecting consumer data, being thoughtful about third-party platform use and partnerships, and advertising through the right channels. Here are five key stats marketers can use to improve their brands’ consumer trust.

New revenue-sharing perks could attract more visual content and position the platform to compete with YouTube as video podcasts surge in popularity.

From the rise of sophisticated AI-driven tools to new policies reshaping data privacy and competition, 2025 promises to be a year of relentless change. Companies that adapt will thrive, while others risk being left behind in a swiftly moving market.

The beta feature simplifies music remixing for creators, signaling YouTube’s push to rival TikTok in video innovation.

Social commerce is gaining momentum in the UK—with sales set to double by 2028—as major brands join TikTok and as more people shop on social platforms.

US eCPMs for digital video, display, and audio formats fell in Q2 2024—the average decrease was slight on a QoQ basis but more pronounced on a YoY basis.

Gen Z leads in digital usage by most proportional measures. However, social network use cuts across categories, influencing video viewing and digital buying.