Health insurance outranks all other factors when people consider their next career move, according to a recent survey from Talker Research and Oscar Health. While employers are unlikely to take on more healthcare costs soon due to their own financial strain, they must prioritize worker retention and use open enrollment for transparent communication on cost increases and plan adjustments
Acast has launched the UK’s biggest integrated podcast marketplace, combining audio and YouTube video inventory through a partnership with Little Dot Studios. The deal gives podcasters access to Little Dot’s 11 billion monthly YouTube views and enables advertisers to buy premium CPM audio alongside dynamic YouTube video ads and sponsorships within one system. This aligns with shifting listener habits: nearly half of UK consumers now prefer watching podcasts, and YouTube will reach over three-quarters of the country by 2029. As podcast video growth steadies, Acast’s unified analytics across audio, YouTube, and social offer marketers a more efficient, accountable way to scale creator-led campaigns.
Disney is moving toward a long-awaited CEO transition, aiming to name Bob Iger’s successor in early 2026 after years of instability. Top internal contenders Josh D’Amaro and Dana Walden have already presented long-range strategies, with the winner set to shadow Iger until his contract ends. The next chief will inherit rising streaming expectations, a $60 billion global parks expansion, and the challenge of reviving major film franchises while managing the decline of linear TV. EMARKETER data shows Disney+ and Hulu subscription revenues will keep rising through 2027, but with slowing growth—raising the stakes for a leader who can execute creatively and operationally.
YouTube and NBCUniversal are doubling down on creator-led Olympic storytelling for Milano Cortina 2026 after Paris proved how strongly younger viewers gravitate toward digital personalities. Top YouTubers will chronicle the journeys of 40 Team USA athletes, with unprecedented access inside trials, training environments, and even the Athlete Village. Nearly half of global sports fans—and 59% of adults ages 18 to 44—follow sports influencers, while YouTube captured 17% of all global Olympic engagement in 2024. For marketers, creators now sit at the center of Olympic discovery, highlights, and cultural relevance, making YouTube indispensable to Games-era planning.
Walmart finalized its Vizio acquisition one year ago, a move that clearly telegraphed its advertising ambitions and positioned it to be a dominant retail media player. Vizio considerably strengthens Walmart’s pitch to advertisers by giving it more opportunities to get in front of engaged audiences and providing more data for better targeting and measurement. Walmart’s newfound CTV capabilities also help establish the retailer as a full-funnel ad solution, increasing its appeal to both endemic and nonendemic brands.
A leaked memo from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed his “code red” orders to staff to prioritize ChatGPT improvements in the face of mounting competition. OpenAI is fast-tracking GPT-5.1 upgrades at the cost of new initiatives, including an advertising platform, its AI wearable, and an AI shopping agent. Its rush to refocus on model quality could improve user interactions and boost engagement while building loyalty. Brands should follow developments from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and others to track consumer preferences on AI use to optimize content for specific markets.
A group of Swedish publishers is suing Meta over scam ads on Facebook. The publishing group, Utgivarna, accused Meta of fraud, complicity in fraud, and preparation for fraud due to Facebook ads that impersonate Swedish journalists and media brands. In addition, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are investigating Meta’s role in financial scams. We’re likely to see more lawsuits from other publishers who are seeking to protect their brand, name, and ability to earn trust from new consumers.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how advertisers are faring amid the current economic backdrop of tariffs, inflation, and a government shutdown; how the digital ad triopoly is changing; and the biggest ad spending milestones this year and in 2026. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Senior Director of Forecasting Oscar Orozco and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
Most age groups show negative sentiment as the dominant response to personalized ads, with negativity ranging from 36% to 58%, according to an August 2025 survey from Verve and Censuswide.
Creator partnerships are increasingly a necessity for driving strong marketing results, according to a TikTok report on influencer-led campaigns. Even as influencer marketing proves its value, consumers are becoming more inundated with influencer ads. This makes it paramount that advertisers tailor their strategies for the best results as the influencer marketing space becomes highly saturated.
Generative AI tools increasingly rely on community-driven platforms—Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and more—as primary sources that feed directly into consumer-facing answers. Because AI does not distinguish between search content, social chatter, reviews, creator posts, or earned media, brand visibility now depends on cross-team coordination rather than siloed optimization. Upstream conversations matter: if forums, reviews, or public commentary lack clarity or depth, AI responses will mirror those gaps. And because users often begin with general queries—not shopping-specific ones—early influence happens long before product discovery. To stay visible, brands must unify search, social, PR, and content workflows.
Brands are ramping up GEO efforts to ensure maximum visibility this holiday season. Tactics include flooding the internet with content; paying influencers to post on TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook; and building entire websites visible only to AI scrapers. If that fails, companies have more opportunities to pay for advertising within AI search results as Walmart, Amazon, and Google ramp up efforts to monetize their AI tools. GEO is a strategic imperative for brands looking to remain discoverable as more shopping research migrates to AI platforms. Given the opportunity, companies should also be experimenting with AI search ads to see how shoppers interact with the format and whether these promos drive purchases or reduce trust in AI recommendations.
Alphabet shares hit an all-time high last week—up about 70% this year and nearing a $4 trillion valuation—after investor enthusiasm surged around its new Gemini 3 model, per CNBC. Google’s parallel push on AI models and custom hardware may pay off faster than expected. Its scale and consumer reach give Google a rare advantage anchored on rapid deployment, lower inference costs, and a massive user base already positioned to adopt whatever Google ships next through services they use every day.
The fastest-growing B2B organizations share one defining trait—their marketing, sales, and customer success teams operate as one coordinated system, not three departments, per a new study from Trilliad. The payoff is hard to ignore. Companies with high coordination are twice as likely to anticipate revenue growth above 10%. Integrated teams outperform. Integrated tech multiplies team impact. Integrated data turns AI from a pilot project into a growth engine. The path forward is clear—connection is the strongest competitive advantage a B2B organization can build.
In a special Thanksgiving-themed episode of “Behind the Numbers,” we ranked the retail and brand initiatives we’re thankful for this season, from viral merchandise to purpose-driven campaigns. "We're looking at those strategies, launches, and collabs that we're genuinely grateful for, the moves that made us smile, surprised us, or gave us hope for where retail is headed," said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian.
From Q1 to Q2 2025, search share of voice (SOV) declined steeply for some banking sites. For example, Wells Fargo fell from 3.83% to 1.21% and NerdWallet from 3.66% to 1.68%. At the same time, StudentAid.gov entered the top five and ConsumerFinance.gov entered the top 10. Since FIs can’t control events that drive people’s need for information, they should be prepared to offer education and advice tailored to their customers’ needs and anticipate other resources to which they should direct customers. If an FI is only a place to buy and administer financial products and services, it can’t be positioned as a trusted advisor.
In 2025, 82% of US consumers did not increase their emergency savings, including 33% whose emergency savings decreased and 18% who had none to begin with. Financial institutions (FIs) are in a strong position to help consumers save. When they do so successfully, they can enhance customer loyalty and help them stay on firmer financial ground, making them high-quality customers for non-depository banking products and services.
Green Dot’s fintech business and licensed bank are being separated and acquired—the former by a private equity firm and the latter by an $839 million commercial bank. The total value of the deal is estimated to be between $825 million and $1.1 billion. B2B services, including banking as a service, has been Green Dot’s growth engine. Carving off the noncore, lower-margin, declining part of the business will allow the company to focus on where it has the greatest growth opportunities. A bank can best leverage its expertise and infrastructure to operate the businesses that Green Dot has struggled with.