Author: Geek Planet

[ad_1] The creator economy is getting too big for investors to ignore, expected to be valued at $480 billion by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs. That may be why private equity firms are elbowing holding companies and other corporations for a piece of the growing pie. M&A activity is up year over year, potentially positioning 2025 as a new record for creator economy transactions. In the first half of 2025, 52 M&A deals were completed. That figure is up from 30 transactions in the first half of 2024, making a 73 percent year-over-year increase, according to Quartermast Advisors, a boutique M&A…

[ad_1] That was the message from global chief Brian Lesser on the holding company’s latest earnings call (August 7). In a market where buying power has lost some of its heft in the eyes of CMOs, Lesser highlighted its data as the differentiator.  Related Insights “We now have more data than any of our competition reaching five billion consumers, connecting intelligence of all forms, including IDs, across a vast federated ecosystem,” said Lesser on the call.  It’s a line that’s been making the rounds with clients in the U.S. and the U.K. for months, ad execs told Digiday.  “They were…

[ad_1] From an area of the industry that wasn’t really taken seriously, to an area now seen as more mature and a core business function, the creator economy has already expanded bigger and far quicker than anyone thought it would. And this is only the beginning. After all, Goldman Sachs valued the creator economy at around $250 billion in 2024, and have forecast it to double to around $480 billion by 2027. In other words, there’s a whole bunch of money to be made. Here’s how the creator economy has shifted so far in the last 12 months. InAgencies of…

[ad_1] Walmart has a plan to stay profitable as President Donald Trump’s tariffs push up costs. It’s called advertising. In the second quarter, Walmart’s ad revenue jumped 46% year over year, a number padded by the addition of Vizio, the smart TV maker it picked up last year. Strip that out, and the U.S. business still looks strong: Walmart Connect, its retail media network, grew 31%. That’s impressive in any cycle. Right now — in a margin-squeezed retail world — it’s vital half of the retailer’s incremental profit last quarter came from advertising, membership and marketplace fees. Advertising is what lets…

[ad_1] It’s apparently never too late to launch a retail media network — at least that’s the approach Ace Hardware has taken. Last week, the hardware chain launched RedVest Media — its retail media network offering onsite search ads, display ads, in-store signage, email and push messaging as well as offsite programmatic.RedVest Media joins the long list of retail media networks that’s been mounting over the last five years, including other hardware retailers like Home Depot’s Orange Media and Lowe’s Media Network.   Related Insights Ace is hoping for a late-mover advantage, said Molly Hjelm, corporate vp of retail media at…

[ad_1] For better or worse, generative AI has become a tech the industry can’t escape. Whether it’s taking over processes, agentic assistants or a way to scale productivity and creativity, AI is usually involved somehow. Now that generative AI is in its hype mode, the next stage of the AI journey is anyone’s guess.To understand how we got here, Digiday has charted the rise of generative AI, big tech’s investment into AI as well as top use cases and consumer sentiment. AI was always important, but generative AI has changed the game While AI is having a moment right now,…

[ad_1] As the summer draws to a close, it’s safe to say it hasn’t been a quiet one. From CEO departures, trials and agency changes — not only has there not been a dull moment since Cannes Lions, the busy period has never stopped.Which is why, before we head into the final stretch of the year, we asked top execs across platforms and agencies to recommend some good page-turners, in a bid to unwind and unplug or learn something new — to escape the laptops, deadlines and Slack notifications just for a minute. If you’re in need of a moment…

[ad_1] There’s rarely a dull moment in platform land but even by those standards, this year has been unusually turbulent. A new administration in Washington, rising competition, regulatory pressure and economic uncertainty have all collided to reshape the platform landscape. The result is a new, more fragile equilibrium for the companies that once seemed untouchable. Here’s what’s been going on in the land of platforms over the last year. In: Meta’s focus on SuperintelligenceOut:Meta’s focus on the metaverse In:YouTube as TV’s heir apparentOut:YouTube as Gen Z’s distraction machine In:Snap’s mixed reality makeoverOut:Snap’s AR tunnel vision In:X as a video-first platformOut:X…

[ad_1] The streaming wars may be far from over but Netflix and Amazon are already finding common ground in advertising.Starting in Q4, Netflix will make its ad inventory available to buy through Amazon’s programmatic buying platform the Amazon DSP in 12 markets including the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Japan. With that, Netflix checks the final box on its programmatic integration tour, now live across all the major buying platforms — Google DV360, The Trade Desk, Yahoo and Microsoft. Related Insights But not all DSPs are built the same. Unlike the others, Amazon brings a layer the rest can’t match:…

[ad_1] When Google started talking to marketers about AI Max — its suite of AI-powered tools to improve results for advertisers’ search campaigns — ahead of its initial roll out over summer, the platform’s 11-page pitch deck left them with more concerns than clarity.Which is why Google has recently been circulating an updated (and detailed) 26-page pitch deck which aims to address those issues. The deck, unsurprisingly starts off similarly to its earlier iteration, with facts and stats about search and reach across Google, before diving into how AI Max actually works. WTF is AI Max? Now available globally in…