US digital ad spending growth will decelerate to 7.8% YoY in 2023, its slowest pace in 14 years. The individual industries we track are generally following the national trend, but the timing and pacing of their slowdowns are playing out differently. For some industries, the outlook is fairly positive.

Retail theft soars in the UK: John Lewis, Tesco, and others recently voiced concerns that shoplifting is hurting their profits and causing consumers to feel uneasy about in-store shopping.

Target bets that jewelry will convince shoppers to spend during the holidays: The retailer struck a deal to carry exclusive Kendra Scott jewelry and accessories.

Mcommerce will account for almost half (49.8%) of US ecommerce sales by 2027, according to our forecast.

Amazon’s end-to-end supply chain solution is a sign of the company’s shifting ambitions: The retailer is focusing on its flourishing merchant services and advertising businesses as ecommerce sales growth slows.

Geek Squad helps improve patients’ care plan adherence: Best Buy Health and Geisinger expanded their chronic care management partnership. We think Best Buy’s Geek Squad value prop puts it ahead of other behemoths in home healthcare.

Young patients want their wearable health data sent right to clinicians: But this vision for connected health won’t become a reality anytime soon.

Doctors without (state) borders: Almost one-quarter of all US physicians have two or more active state licenses—a record high. Demand for telehealth services will likely keep those numbers growing.

Emphasizing health, environmental awareness, machine learning, and the mandated USB-C standard indicates the innovation taps are running dry.

Cannabis ads enter the mainstream: Spotify allows Cresco campaign, signaling a growing shift toward normalization.

Disney and Charter’s carriage fee clash is a landmark moment: A new deal includes Disney+ and ESPN subscriptions for the linear TV service’s customers.

Microsoft, Google guzzling municipal drinking water for AI: Applying the technology to sustainability use cases will lower the enormous costs that come with deploying AI commercially.

eBay’s consignment business is its latest play for luxury shoppers: The marketplace is betting on luxury to turn its fortunes around.

Did DirecTV and Intuit mislead consumers with ads? The NFL called out a “deceptive” DirecTV football ad, while the FTC ruled against Intuit for its “free” service ads.

ChatGPT loses more steam, but not in the US: Students are likely behind the chatbot’s fluctuating traffic patterns. It could push OpenAI to invest more in enterprise solutions.

Rethinking the customer experience within the branch: Financial institutions can learn a lot from other verticals that maintain both an online and brick-and-mortar presence.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss when attention metrics might dethrone viewability, why advertisers are tentative about them, and why using attention as a currency is TBD. "In Other News," we talk about Google limiting impressions from "unproven" advertisers and the battle between advertising groups and the "Delete Bill," a California bill that would allow consumers to request advertisers delete their personal information. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf.

The agency argues Big Tech’s dominance over the mobile payment method limits innovation and competition. But crafting new regulation could take years

Open banking-powered payments can help merchants save money, reduce fraud, and increase conversion rates