Advertising Trends
Think Digitally, Act Locally: The Increasing Benefits Of Digital Revenue For Local Media
Nearly half of local media saw an increase in total digital revenue in 2024, with 67.9% increasing their digital revenue budget for 2025.
Growth Charts: Measuring Effectiveness As Programmatic Advertising Continues To Dominate
72% of advertisers and marketers are planning on increasing their programmatic advertising investment this year, up from 62% last year.
Keeping Perspective: AI, Subscriptions, And The State of Journalism In 2025
AI in publishing, digital subscriptions, and the future of search are all top-of-mind for journalists and publishers in 2025.
Promising Projections: Programmatic Advertising Continues To Dominate For Publishers
U.S. programmatic advertising sales are projected to rise to $21.5 billion in 2025 and reach $22.69 billion by 2027.
Digital Diligence: Why The Right Tech Is Essential For Today’s (and Tomorrow’s) Digital Content Needs
77% of creatives expect their production volume to increase in 2025, highlighting the need for the right digital management software.
Act Locally: Ads With Local Messages Seen As More Relevant (New Study)
In a recent study of TV viewers, 68% said ads from national companies are more relevant when they have local messages.
Tip Of The Iceberg: New Study Shows Vast Volume Of Top Search Terms
New Google Search research found that 46% of the total volume came from the top 10,000 query terms, and the top 15% came from just 148 terms.
AI Advertising Advantages: How AI Is Revolutionizing Media Sales
More than half of ad buyers are using or are planning to use AI-powered products, according to a recent survey.
The Hurdles Ahead: Publishers Rank Digital Media Challenges For 2025 (New Report)
For publishers looking ahead at 2025, the top challenges are consistently inconsistent, with varied answers touching upon audience development, ad delivery, and more.
Quality Time: Top Barrier To Growing Programmatic Is Quality Of Media (New Report)
The top-ranked barrier for growing programmatic advertising is the quality of media (e.g. fraud, brand safety, viewability, transparency).
The Age(s) of Advertising: Maximizing Engagement With Better Targeting
According to a recent study, Gen X and Baby Boomer consumers are the most receptive to digital ads they see online.
Advertising Outlook: Where The Money’s Going In 2025
A new report on projected advertising spend has connected television (CTV), streaming, and over the top video (OTT) seeing the most growth.
AI Expectations: Why Publishers Must Balance Excitement With Realism
A new report says AI won't likely "alter the fundamental commercial reality for the news” the same way the shift to online did.
Podcast Potential: Audiences More Attentive, Receptive, And Open To Brand Messages (New Report)
Listeners not only find podcast ads to be more relevant, but nine in 10 have taken action because of an ad.
Premium Programmatic Growth Projected To Only Increase Further (New Report)
The premium programmatic market saw a reported 47% growth YoY through August 2024, with a projected share of 50% by year’s end.
Advertising Outlook: WFA Predicts Two Years of Rising Media Inflation
The U.S. is just one of the global media markets to see greater media price inflation, rising from 2.1% this year to 3.9% in 2026.
Advanced Advertising: Are Google’s AI Overview Ads Enough To Maintain Search Dominance?
Will the recent announcement of ads in mobile users' AI Overviews be enough to help Google maintain its search dominance?
Audience Abandonment: Are Publishers Moving On From Meta?
Meta has made a few publishing-related headlines recently, touching upon declines in audience engagement as well as tradeoffs in audience opportunities.
Highly Recommending: Magazine Readers ‘More Influential’ Than Other Media Users (New Report)
With so many Americans engaging with magazine media, their high-influence is something digital magazine publishers know all too well and more and more advertisers are quickly discovering.
Ad Brakes: How To Reduce The Carbon Costs Of Media Campaigns
Carbon footprints of media campaigns could be reduced by as much as a third by incorporating certain sustainability measures.
Search Strategies: More And More Trading Traditional For AI
A new survey has found that 77% use genAI tools to search in place of Google and other traditional search engines.
As Costs Rise, Which Clicks Are Working Harder?
Advertisers looking at their audience development strategies are seeing search's clickthrough rates continuing to exceed social and retail media.
AI Analysis: Rewards Abound, But What Risks Should Advertisers Consider?
While advertisers continue to incorporate genAI into their ad strategies, there are still lingering concerns.
Inbox Engagement: Why Sponsored Content Means More In A Newsletter
Readers find newsletters to be their preferred news source ... and that built-in trust means they’re more receptive to sponsored content.
Br-AI-n Trust: More Advertisers Showing Confidence In AI
A new report shows advertisers are trusting AI for both optimization and, on an ad sales management level, content worthy of being near.
Sign-Up Sweeteners: What Your Newsletter Needs To Offer In Exchange For Emails
A new survey on audience development says 52% of consumers would subscribe to a newsletter if given free, exclusive content.
Moving Targets: How To Reprioritize Audience Targeting Amidst Privacy Laws
A recent digital advertising survey says new data privacy standards will make the largest impacts on audience targeting and measurements.
Cookie Cutters: How The Future Is Still Cookieless Despite Google’s Recent Reversal
With so few users actually accepting cookies now, new analysis is predicting most internet browsers will become cookieless in the future.
Every Meta Moment Counts: How The Platform Draws Such A Large Share Of Digital Ad Spend
Compared to other video platforms with near-equal shares of time spent, Meta's share of digital ad spend is much larger.
Safety First: What Are The Programmatic Concerns Moving Forward?
Following Google's reversal on cookies, a new survey finds that 60% of programmatic experts are most concerned about brand safety.
More Hours In The Day: Larger Percent Of Time Being Spent With Digital Media
Digital media continues to distance itself from traditional media in terms of how much time is spent with each by the average American adult.
Big Tech Bargain: Google, California Agreement Commits $250 Million To Journalism, AI Initiatives — But At What Cost?
The deal between California and Google will bring an influx of money to newsrooms ... but does it let the tech company off easy?
Email Engagement: The Compounding Importance of Email To Subscription Businesses
Even as CTRs fall, email continues to be vital for communicating, engaging, and converting in the subscription industry and beyond.
Push The Right Buttons: Publishers Leaning More Toward Mobile, Apps, Push Notifications (New Report)
A new report on digital publishing's future is showing more success engaging with young audiences through apps than through sites.
Better Results: New Survey Shows Nearly Half Happier With AI-Assisted Search Results
For those paying attention to the AI Search revolution, 29% say that they use traditional search engines less because of AI platforms.
Performance Matters: What Types of Commerce Advertising Generate The Most Sales For Publishers?
Almost half of the experts surveyed say the importance of commerce advertising is increasing compared to other digital advertising forms.
A Roaring Trade: Trade Media A ‘Significant Factor’ In Sales And Strategies (New Report)
A survey of B2B leaders found that trade media coverage directly impacts purchases, brand positioning, and other decisions.
Programmatic Potential: Retail Leading All Industries In Alternative Programmatic Ad Buys
Just because Google changed its mind on cookies doesn’t mean publishers should throw away their work seeking out cookie alternatives.
Send In The Search Team: Can SearchGPT Dethrone Google Search?
With the announcement of OpenAI's generative search tool, SearchGPT is hitting Google where it could hurt the most.
Ad Infinitum: The Ever-Increasing Role of AI In Advertising
New estimates say that, in five year’s time, 94.1% of all ad spending for digital and analog media buys will be AI-enabled.
Searching Elsewhere: The Getaway From Google And Shift To Social Media
A new survey found that 1 in 4 use social media to search online, and 1 in 5 don’t feel the need to use search engines at all.
The Future Of AI, Today: Are The Highest AI Hopes Already A Reality?
A new report is asking global marketers about current AI use and future AI hopes, revealing wishes that, for many, are already here.
Abandonment Issues: How To Keep Consumers From Deserting Their Online Carts
A recent survey found that extra costs and fees were the top reason online shoppers have abandoned their carts.
Digital Transfer: Media Consumption Rising Worldwide (New Report)
Total media usage rose 0.3% to 56.15 hours per week worldwide, and the forecast shows further expansion moving forward.
Plan B2B: How Digital Initiatives For Customer Acquisition Are Just The Beginning
Digital is clearly the way for B2B marketers, with top channels being social media (22%), digital advertising (16%), and email (13%).
AI Obstacles: The Hurdles To Overcome For Implementing and Maximizing AI’s Potential
Estimating and demonstrating AI's value is the primary obstacle in adopting the technology, but it's a conquerable hurdle.
Renewed Interest: Publishers Increasing Focus On Subscriptions In Face Of Traffic, Ad Revenue & AI Challenges
A recent survey of publishing executives found that most are increasing their focus on building subscription revenue.
Wait And See: Publishers Punting On Cookie Deprecation Preparations (New Report)
A recent survey of global publishers found that less than a third (32%) are actively preparing for a cookieless future.
Make Room, Duopoly: Amazon Ad Spend Continues To Grow
Amazon continues to climb into the upper echelon for digital-ad spend, positioning itself behind the Duopoly controlled by Google and Meta.
Personal Best: Why Personalized Marketing With More Touchpoints Is Essential
With most marketers believing it's harder to reach customers today than it was 5 years ago, personalized marketing is increasingly important.
Audience Growth: The Ever-Expanding Benefits of Quality First-Party Data
Marketers collecting first-party data report improved customer experience, customer retention, advertising ROI, and customer engagement.
Streamlining With AI: Is Your Workflow Fully Optimized?
Marketers are using AI tools in their workflows for task automation, asset organization, and content creation.
Confidence Boost: How Data Strategies And AI Can Pave The Best Paths Forward
The confidences marketers are currently feeling are built upon a solid data-strategy foundation and optimism in generative AI.
Searching AI And Low: What Google’s AI Overviews Mean For Publishers
Google's AI Overviews is changing Search as we know it, but as users experience this new convenience, publishers need to consider a response.
Rising Costs: How AI & Automation Can Help With Cost Per Lead And More
The cost per click is up $0.44 from last year while the cost per lead is up more than $13 to $66.69 this year.
Marketers Believe AI Advances To Make Most Impact On Email Marketing Automation (New Report)
Marketers say the most effective way to measure email marketing success is by the revenue generated, followed by ROI and engagement metrics.
More AI The Merrier: Marketers Saving More With Multiple Uses Of AI
The top three use-cases of generative AI for B2B marketers are creating recurring customers, automating documentation, and automating marketing.
Making An AI Impression: Using AI More Likely To Garner Favorable View
A recent survey of communications professionals found that they’re “more likely to have a favorable view of agencies and colleagues who incorporate AI into their work.”
Exclusive Incentives: The Marketing Offers That Gen Z Can’t Refuse
Exclusive offers made 56% of Gen Z — and 73% of Gen Z college students — feel more emotionally connected to brands.
AI Growth Shows Continued Rises In Sales, Satisfaction, And Marketing Savings
New research sees a 5.1% improvement in sales productivity, a 6.1% improvement in customer satisfaction, and a 7% drop in marketing costs.
Opt-Out Observations: What Marketers Can Discover For Better Email Engagement
Just as you can learn something about yourself based on your dislikes, marketers can learn a thing or two about their campaigns from discovering more about those who opt-out.
Making Time: AI, Automation, And How SMBs Can Prioritize (And Optimize) Marketing Efforts
Most small businesses spend less than an hour each day on marketing, highlighting the need for marketing software that create efficiencies.
Sponsored Spending Slowdown: YoY Social Media Growth Down Slightly (New Forecast)
Brands will spend $9.29 billion on social media sponsored content in 2025, but that 14.2% YoY growth will be down from 2024’s 16% growth.
Brand Disconnect: How Companies and Customers Disagree On Personalization, AI, And More
New findings show that 81% of brands say they have a “deep understanding of their customers,” while only 46% of customers agree.
Feature Friendly: Why Marketers Ultimately Switch Software
Almost half of the marketers who switched applications said new and better features were the reason they replaced their software.
Personal Touch: How Marketers Are Turning To AI For Enhanced Personalization
Most marketers believe AI could further improve predictive analytics of customer behavior and enhance dynamic content creation and optimization.
Missed Signals: Most Marketers Aren’t Collecting Customer-Journey Data (New Report)
Only 75% say collecting real-time data about a customer journey is critical, while only 47% are even collecting the data.
Stay of Cookie Execution: Google Postpones Cookie Deprecation Again
The postponement into 2025 (or beyond?) marks just the latest delay since Google’s announced its phase-out plan for the third-party trackers.
Seeing Is Believing: More Marketers Valuing Video In Campaigns (New Report)
Not only are more marketers integrating images and videos into their content in 2024, but more believe video to be the most valuable creative asset.
The Search Continues: AI’s Referrals To Brand Sites See Promising Growth
New research shows Perplexity’s referrals grew almost 40% month-over-month since January, proving AI’s potential beyond just generating content.
Data-Driven Decisions Seen As Difference-Maker As Marketers Face More Competition In 2024
92% of marketers rely on data to make decisions (up 11% from last year), and more than half say they’re prioritizing more personalized marketing experiences.
Data Difficulties: Even With AI, Retailers Struggling To Connect Data Dots
While most retailers are using generative AI for personalization, nearly half are struggling to make data accessible.
Personalization Pays: How Marketers Leverage Perks For Better Consumer Data
While more than half of consumers are frustrated when brands send irrelevant content and offers, 85% love when they get it right.
Publishers Planning Ahead: Data Collection In A Cookieless Future
A new study says 78% of publishers are taking a cookieless future seriously and investing in first-party data solutions.
Advanced Strategies: AI Giving Marketers ‘Room For Growth’ In Customer Engagement
As AI use becomes more ubiquitous, a new study has found that the top challenge facing marketers in terms of creativity and strategic engagement was having to focus on KPIs.
Retention ROI: How AI In Marketing Can Help Reprioritize Existing Customers
With customer acquisition “anywhere between 5 to 25 times more expensive,” a new study says customer retention has more potential for ROI.
Market’s Value: Online Shopping Journeys See Drop In Marketplace Origins (New Report)
40.4% will start shopping on a marketplace (down more than 11% from last year), while 29.7% start with a search engine (up almost 5%).
Sunny Forecast: U.S. Ad Market Seeing Continued Growth
Between continued signs of growth and revised forecasts for further expansion, the U.S. ad market is seeing bright days ahead.
Finding Your Audience: Content Strategies For 2024 And Beyond
It takes more than a trending AI prompt for publishers to make amazing SEO-friendly content and engaging social-media-tested content.
Solid Investment: Data Spend To Reach $27b In 2024 & Exceed $33b By 2027
With data-driven ad spend projected to hit $270 billion in the U.S. this year, investments in data services and data technology are as important as ever.
Programmatic Progress: Programmatic Ad Spend Forecast To Grow 3x As Fast As Nonprogrammatic
The increase in programmatic ad spend will add up to more than 9 of every 10 digital display ad dollars being spent programmatically in 2024,
Audience Strategies: Getting The Marketing-Most Out Of AI And Automation
A new survey has the most effective AI applications in marketing automation as audience targeting, analytics & reporting, and email marketing.
Preparation Plans: More Marketers Investing in Cookie Alternatives
A new report says the average advertiser invested more in cookie alternatives in Q4 2023 and increased their cookie alternative SOV by 9%.
Media Spending Projected To Grow In 2024 (New Report)
Though global advertising and marketing spend saw decelerated growth last year, PQ Media projects total media spending to grow 7.7% in 2024.
Advertising Diversity Took ‘Step Backwards’ Despite Being ‘Proven Growth Driver’ (New Report)
The advertising and marketing industry saw a hit in diversity in 2023, falling from 32.3% in 2022 to 30.8% amongst the ANA's member companies … and even further when those numbers are compared to the larger population.
For A Special Occasion: The Secrets of Occasion-Based Marketing
Any occasion can be a special one for incorporating occasion-based marketing and a sense of meaningful urgency into a campaign.
Know Your Audience: Reconsidering The Metrics In Digital Publishing
A healthy publication should constantly consider and reconsider who its audience is, for the sake of both its front-facing offerings and its behind-the-scenes efforts. Are your metrics actually helping?
Lights, Camera, AI-Action: How Marketers Are Embracing AI For Video
More than 62% of marketers in video production say they’re leveraging generative AI to “support creative development.”
Visitors Welcome: Paid Search Outperforming Paid Social
As the cost-per-visit increases, marketers are looking at the visitor-intent and lower bounce rates of paid search over paid social.
An Offer They Can’t Refuse: How Incentives Can Make And Break Brand Loyalty
Of the many enticements that would lead consumers to buy from a beloved brand’s competitor, 70% could be swayed with a 20%-off coupon.
Safe Ad Spaces: Consumers More Trusting Of Brands Around Appropriate Content
When brands advertise near inappropriate content, 70% of consumers say they trust the brands less and 51% are likely to stop using the products or services.
Leap Forward: Harnessing The Gift Of Extra Time With Generative AI
Generative AI tools have the ability to essentially give you more than just an extra day every year. What will you do with the extra time?
Speaking From Experience: How Experience-Based Benefits Can Create Loyal Consumers
Money-savings isn't everything. 42% of consumers are interested in an extended return policy as an experience-based reward from brands and their loyalty programs.
Retail Therapy: As Retail Media Advertising Grows, Marketers Must Prioritize Metrics (New Report)
Most marketers say limitations in analytics and reporting are a critical challenge limiting their spending in retail media.
Beyond Cookies: First-Party Data, Zero-Party Data, And Consumer Comforts & Concerns
Almost a third of consumers are likely to decline non-essential cookies when given the option. How does that affect first-party data strategies as we look beyond cookies?
Direct Hit: A Decade of Programmatic Direct Growth And Its Potential Moving Forward
As open exchange continues to shrink and we edge closer to a cookieless future, programmatic direct remains the more popular programmatic advertising transaction method.
Spend Trend: Retail Media Ad Spend Growing Faster Than Search and Social (New Report)
Retail media ad spend is forecast to grow faster than search and social, making up more than 20% of total ad spending in the U.S. by 2027.
Human Touch: How Brands Should Address AI Within Customer Experience (New Report)
As a new study finds a majority of customers concerned whether their data, privacy, and identity are being protected with brands’ use of AI, reassurance and transparency is more vital than ever.
Ad Placement, Yield, And Access To Consumer Data Lead Publisher Concerns For 2024
Those on both the sell-side and buy-side say their biggest media challenge is ads delivering alongside risky content.
Getting The Message: Audiences Remain Engaged By Email Marketing (New Reports)
Two recent studies about the overall consumer experience are putting a spotlight on how email marketing is still as important as ever.
Keep It Coming: More Marketers Utilizing AI To Meet Ever-Growing Content Needs (New Report)
A recent survey of marketers found 85% facing increasing pressure to produce more content more rapidly, so it’s no surprise 69% believe AI can help their companies expand to new markets.
And The Crowd Goes Wild! What Advertisers Should Know About Modern Sports Fans
As the sports world continues to go digital, it's important that marketers and advertisers keep up with what sports fans want.
Attention, Please! New Marketing Study Highlights Importance of These Three Attention-Scoring Signals
Digital media marketers are divided about how best to harness and measure attention, but a new study shows three key categories vital for calculating a proper attention score.
AI Assistance: How Consumers Want To Incorporate AI Into Their Shopping
86% of consumers who hadn’t used AI yet want it to help them research products, 82% want service to resolve issues, and 79% want deals and promotions.
Growth Gains: Worldwide Ad Spending To Grow Faster In 2024
New projections have worldwide spending in digital, traditional & total media ad spending all growing faster in 2024 than they did last year.
Bridging B2C Priorities: How Far Apart Are Brands and Consumers?
8 in 10 brands believe their B2C online shopping experiences are impressive to consumers. Sadly, less than half of consumers agree.
Up For A Chat: Advertising Industry Tops List of ChatGPT Users
39% of advertising professionals use the generative AI chatbot on the job, according to the recent survey.
And One To Grow On: Advertising Market Expanded In 2023 (New Report)
Good news! 2023 ended with a 0.5% overall YoY gain in advertising spend following 9 months of consecutive expansion.
Moving Target: Many Consumers Still Wary Of Sharing Email (New Survey)
As cookies are phased out, 48% of consumers are against sharing their email for more targeted ads, and 59% believe targeting a user group of anonymized individuals is safer than one-to-one targeting.
No Tough Customers: AI Helping Most Marketers Figure Out Preferences, Behavior
Most marketers are giving AI technology a stamp of approval, and it makes you wonder what the rest are waiting for.
Publisher Tips To Take Advantage of Programmatic Advertising’s Bright Future
For all its promise and revenue potential, programmatic advertising faced “notable challenges” in 2023, according to Assertive Yield’s 2024 Publisher Trends report
Advertiser Optimism: Performance-Driven Paid Media & Measurement Top Priorities
Optimism usually comes with a new year, but Mediaocean’s 2024 Advertising Outlook Report offers plenty of data points upon which to hang some sales hope in the coming year.
Marketers Optimistic Despite 2024 Economy Concerns (New Report)
Hopes are high for 2024, with 61% of marketers expecting business to improve and 41% expecting a bigger marketing budget than last year.
Brand’s New Year: The Importance of Building The Brand in 2024
With many marketers seeing a budget increase this year, businesses are putting a priority on maintaining and building their brands in 2024.
Social Spending: Ad Prices, ROI Lifting Off On LinkedIn
Ad prices may be rising on LinkedIn as its annual ad revenue grows an additional 14.1% this year, but so too is marketers’ ROI.
Publishing Paradise: What Would An Ad-Free Facebook Look Like?
4Meta is offering an ad-free option for Facebook users in the EU, and a similar subscription model would be plenty promising for U.S. publishers.
Outside The Inbox: Marketing Performance Better With Multi-Channel Campaigns (New Study)
44% more brands used at least two channels in their marketing campaigns, with the largest channel combination being email combined with push.
Captive Audience: The Larger Costs of Ad-Blocking
Ad-blocking will cost publishers $54 billion in lost advertising revenue next year, according to new data released by eyeo.
Programmatic Potential: The Importance of High-Quality Data In Programmatic Advertising
When the Association of National Advertisers released its initial study on programmatic advertising this summer, a huge takeaway was the billions wasted on clickbait sites (which the ANA cast as “minimum efficient gains from course correcting”).
