The global advertising industry is showing marked dynamism in early November 2025, highlighted by major deals, rapid adoption of AI, and notable shifts in consumer behavior. Recent data from WARC projects that global retail media investment will surge to 174.9 billion dollars this year, up nearly 14 percent from 2024, outpacing overall ad spend growth and expected to overtake traditional television spend by 2026. Brands are consolidating their budgets across fewer retail media partners, signaling increased market maturity and a stronger focus on data-driven results. Amazon maintains leadership with double-digit year-on-year growth, moving aggressively into open web advertising.
Strategic partnerships continue shaping the landscape. This week, Context Networks signed a five-year deal with NRT Technology to deploy targeted, real-time advertising inside more than 1,000 casinos worldwide, leveraging data-driven AI for granular audience segmentation and faster campaign launches. In another significant move, Viant Technology was confirmed as the new advertising platform for Molson Coors, enabling the beverage giant to elevate first-party data usage and CTV innovation starting 2026. Industry service leaders like Ars X Machina have been recognized for real-time media measurement capabilities, reflecting a widespread pivot to real-time analytics.
AI-driven offerings are accelerating, exemplified by Dailymotion's launch of Ray, which uses AI to automate media planning for video marketing across a 400-million-user base, and Comscore’s new partnership with Polaris to automate audience insights.
A notable change in consumer behavior is early holiday shopping, largely driven by inflation and high prices. According to McKinsey and corroborated by WARC, two-thirds of Americans plan to start holiday purchases well before Black Friday, stretching merchant ad campaigns over longer periods — but not necessarily expanding overall budgets. Advertisers are adapting with earlier and more experimental festive campaigns, including interactive and AI-powered content.
On the regulatory and supply side, there are no major disruptive events reported this week, but industry focus is clearly on personalization, transparency, and better measurable outcomes. In comparison to last year, growth is steadier, consolidation is stronger, and the pivot to AI is far more pronounced across industry leaders.
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