The news: WPP Media has lowered its global ad spend forecast for 2025 by 1.7%, reaching 6% compared with the 7.7% projected in December. The downgrade is attributed to ongoing trade wars resulting from President Trump’s current tariff policies, with WPP Media president Kate Scott-Dawkins citing “uncertainty.” Our take: Despite global uncertainty, advertisers who remain flexible with data-informed pivots, prioritize performance marketing, and plan for uncertainty will come out on top.
Temu and Shein ad impressions dropped to 0% as both retailers effectively cut off Google Shopping ad spend in April.
The news: Quality control is a growing fear for advertisers as an Adweek investigation found ads from major brands appeared near offensive and inappropriate content. Ads from brands like Amazon and Verizon were found near sexual or racially offensive content on the Android short-form video app XShorts. Our take: Advertisers are increasingly faced with a digital landscape where programmatic ad buying lacks the quality control required to keep up with rapid innovation and demand for ad space—prompting renewed calls for transparency, verification, and human oversight in automated systems.
The news: National TV ad revenues will fall 11.4% this year, hitting $35.3 billion, while streamers are expected to rise 26% to $7.8 billion, per a Madison and Wall projection reported by MediaPost. Our take: Advertisers should continue shifting strategies to align with viewing habits and consumer behaviors—but remain cautious about complete CTV adoption, as opaque ad placements and looming economic pressures spell an uncertain future.
The news: Roblox’s lack of third-party measurement tools is becoming a hurdle for advertisers. The platform has minimal independent insights into standard metrics like reach and performance outcomes, per Digiday. As a result, potential customers are hesitant to start investing in ads on Roblox, which could dampen company growth. Our take: Roblox commands enormous engagement, especially with younger users, and it has a wealth of assets to attract advertisers and bolster its revenue. However, without accessible measurement offerings that meet industry standards, Roblox’s growth as a major ad channel may remain limited.
The news: Amazon’s Private Auction is quietly reshaping the CTV landscape by introducing more flexible buying on Prime Video. The format allows smaller advertisers and performance marketers to compete for inventory through open bidding, bypassing the need for costly guaranteed placements. As CPMs decline and the demand for agility rises, this move gives brands better control over pricing and access. Our take: While big brands may still favor premium guarantees, Amazon’s shift reflects broader momentum toward programmatic efficiency. By inviting direct-response buyers into the Prime Video ecosystem, Amazon is not just monetizing scale—it’s redefining what CTV access looks like in 2025.
The news: The Trade Desk unveiled Deal Desk, a new tool to fix the inefficiencies in private marketplace buying, where up to 90% of structured deal IDs fail to scale. By automating deal creation via API and surfacing metadata like fit and availability, Deal Desk aims to save time and unlock premium inventory. Our take: As PMP spending overtakes open exchange buys, The Trade Desk is shoring up the backend infrastructure that supports this shift. Deal Desk positions the company to capture more high-value spend and offers a cleaner path to scale in a fragmented programmatic landscape.
The news: Newsweek is buying healthcare-focused ad platform Adprime to boost its offerings for pharma and healthcare marketers. Our take: Healthcare and pharma marketers looking for targeted, data-driven ad solutions could find valuable niche audiences tuning into Newsweek’s expanding content and events. We’re not convinced Newsweek’s adtech strategy is a slam dunk competing against much larger players, but we do think doubling down on the resilient healthcare and pharma digital ad industry makes sense.
FTC investigates ad groups, watchdogs over alleged boycott: Advertisers must navigate a landscape where protecting brand image could carry legal risks.
The news: The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) gave a glimpse of the TV (CTV) advertising’s future at its IAB Tech Lab event—and proved that pause ads are leading the way. Advertising leaders said they offer the best user experience, were most likely to scale with standardization, and provided the greatest increase in ad spend. Our take: The future of CTV advertising will rely on whether advertisers can implement non-intrusive formats that capture attention. Pause ads are positioned to drive action—but advertisers must reimagine their creative strategy to capitalize on this potential.
Tools like Smart+ and Content Suite help brands find trending creator content, predict ad success, and target more precisely.
Facetune, the photo editing app from Lightricks, has expanded from digital screens into the physical world with its first out-of-home (OOH) ad campaign in the US.
TikTok shifts away from free traffic for US merchants: The change will require businesses to pay for ads for visibility, but TikTok remains a critical touchpoint.
e at last: Microsoft’s update kills default Edge and Bing prompts, giving rivals room to breathe—and forcing marketers to rethink how they reach EU users.
WPP, Publicis, and others are buying data-rich firms to outmaneuver Google and Amazon but risk creating the same closed systems they’re rebelling against.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how Google embedding an AI chatbot into search changes things, why Anthropic’s Claude API could reshape search, and why tech companies might not be the winners of the AI search war. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, and Senior Analyst’s Gadjo Sevilla and Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
Businesses could soon plug in budgets and products, and Meta will handle the rest—threatening the role of agencies in the digital ad pipeline.
Google’s AI Overviews lead to fewer clicks on healthcare search results: An industry that heavily relies on search must optimize for visibility in AI Overviews while closely monitoring how AI changes consumer search behaviors.
US total media ad spending could fall to $394 billion in 2025 under a heavy tariff scenario, wiping out projected gains for the year, per our April 2025 forecast.
Senate leader questions pharma advertising oversight amid growing calls for more regulation: The threats of new legislation and regulations indicate the seriousness of both the Trump administration and Congress to move against pharma ads.