Media Buying

TikTok delivers best bang for the buck among rivals, studies show: The platform continues to put pressure on both Meta and Google.

This week, Meta announced its Variance Reduction System, which it says will equitably distribute ads via census data and machine learning. The new tech was created in partnership with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), representing the first instance of direct court oversight for Meta’s ad targeting and delivery, according to a DOJ statement.

Just five countries will produce double-digit growth rates for total media ad spending in 2023, and of these India will be the only large market to do so.

TikTok deal with IMDb enables discovery feature: Users can link to TV and movie content in their videos.

IRI woos shopper marketers: Its new platform should give advertisers greater visibility into retailer and SKU-level results.

Connected TV (CTV)’s digital DNA and ability to target specific audiences has catapulted its popularity among advertisers. Learn why a wide variety of advertisers, including direct-to-consumer brands, are using CTV ads to reach streaming viewers and drive measurable results.

CES delves into the creator economy: Sessions included topics such as data accessibility and influence of AI, underscoring the rising power of the booming creative class.

Paramount is playing catch-up when it comes to ad innovation: The media giant is exploring a number of initiatives to fuel its aggressive streaming goals.

In response to the shifting advertising landscape, we’ve cut over $5 billion from our US ad spend forecast for 2023, placing it at $278.59 billion. Why the downgrade? Well, for one, last year’s macroeconomic factors are spilling over into this year. And while that may resolve itself in time, there’s another, more permanent issue advertising is facing: privacy changes.

We all know that 2023 will be the year of retail media, social commerce, and lingering economic uncertainty. But here are some more targeted possibilities for the year ahead.

A quarter of US adults pay the most attention to TV commercials, making them the top ad format, followed closely by online ads, per CivicScience. Magazine and newspaper ads rank near the bottom, with only 4% and 5% paying them the most attention, respectively.

More people in the US are listening to digital audio, and those who already do are spending more time listening.

In 2022, both YouTube and TikTok captured 46 minutes of their adult US users’ attention each day, per our estimates. Netflix reigned supreme at 60 minutes daily. Time spent with TikTok will tick up every year through 2024, when it will reach 48 minutes per day, but it won’t pass Netflix anytime soon.

The ad industry will never be the same after 2022: Between the ad downturn, regulation, and new channels, the ad industry entered a new era.

Google expands its cloud but pivots to a simplicity sprint to counter the down economy: Innovation could be dialed down further for 2023 as Big Tech’s most multifaceted behemoth rethinks its strategies.

Apple will begin its advertising ascendancy in the coming year: The tech giant could see spectacular ad growth the remainder of the decade.

November ad spend shows the pandemic boom is over: The typically lucrative period declined 8% year over year as the market finally stabilized after the pandemic.

2022 brings a dramatic change in fortunes for some social networks: Contracting ad spending growth prompts big downgrade in our forecast.

Meta defends its Within acquisition before an antitrust judge: It’s becoming increasingly clear the company needs VR to replace lost social media ad revenue.

Gen Zers aren’t watching appointment TV. They’re not even the biggest cohort of connected TV users. (That distinction goes to millennials.) Instead, Gen Z is watching short digital videos and looking for new ways to interact with friends. Here are five charts on what Gen Z’s media consumption looks like.