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Commerce Media’s Easy Growth Days Are Over. Now Comes the Hard Part.

Is the honeymoon over for commerce media? After five years of what one industry leader calls "easy growth," the sector now faces harder questions about sustainability, shared language, and whether it can truly integrate into the broader advertising ecosystem. With ad spend forecasted to exceed $150 billion across the US and Europe, according to IAB research, commerce media has become too big to remain siloed. But growing pains are evident, from inconsistent definitions of basic metrics to organizational structures that pit merchandising against media teams. "Can we be a durable, sustainable industry [...]

Posted on 04/06/2026 at2:20

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Omnicom Media’s Analytics Chief: For AI, Guardrails will Set Business Outcomes Free

The data has never been more abundant. The problem is what to do with it. Three-quarters of U.S. buy-side leaders now believe traditional ad measurement approaches are underperforming, according to a February 2026 eMarketer report, a figure that suggests the dashboard era may have run its course. The answer, said Holly Yonosko, chief analytics officer at Omnicom Media, is not more [...]

Retail Media Wants to be More Than a Line Item for Marketers: Macy’s Michael Krans

Michael Krans is trying to pull retail media out of the margins and into the center of the marketing playbook. The head of retail media at department-store chain Macy’s is on a mission to turn the Macy’s Media Network from a transactional afterthought into something closer to a marketing nerve center. “We are attempting to move beyond Macy’s Media Network being [...]

Xumo’s Marcien Jenckes: CTV Home Screen Is the Place Where ‘Engagement Moments’ Happen

In this ever-fragmented media landscape, advertisers are forced to visit numerous destinations to find audience segments, while integrated ecosystems provide unified access that functions like an “easy button for connected TV.” “Fragmentation makes buying audiences hard. You have to go to a bunch of different places to find a little piece of the audience that you’re looking for,” Marcien Jenckes, president [...]

Chalice’s Ali Manning: Brands Should Use AI for Growth, not Just Efficiency

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Companies that focus artificial intelligence implementation with an eye toward business growth, rather than expense reduction, will outpace competitors. The view is that AI’s transformative power should drive real outcomes that matter to brands rather than operational efficiency alone. But getting brands to accept that remains a challenge. “Who’s going to leap ahead of their competition [...]

Commerce Media Needs Less Drama, More Co-Building: Digitas’ Christa Klausner

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – If there is one thing Christa Klausner would like the industry to stop doing, it is obsessing over “tension.” Yes, commerce media networks want control. Yes, agencies want flexibility. No, this is not a reality show. “Tension is kind of a strong word,” said Klausner, executive vice president of commerce media at Publicis Groupe's Digitas North [...]

Partnership with Allen Media will Make News Advertising Cool Again: Anoki AI’s Abbey Thomas

NEW YORK – At the IAB NewFronts 2026, Abbey Thomas of Anoki AI had a message that might make media buyers do a double take: thanks to a new partnership with Allen Media Group, advertising in news may no longer feel like a reputational gamble. Speaking with David Kaplan of Beet.TV, Thomas laid out how AI-powered contextual analysis is turning what [...]

Future Today’s Tim Ware: Direct Deals Drive CTV Success

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For WBD’s Steinhauser, Agentic AI Still Early Stage But With Meaningful Momentem

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Commerce Media Needs Transparency, Teamwork and Fewer Hidden Fees: Yahoo DSP’s Beth Gross

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Organic First, ROAS Last: Havas Is Rethinking Retail Media From the Ground Up

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - With more than 350 retail media networks now vying for advertiser dollars, the channel has become so saturated that brands risk cannibalizing their own organic visibility by over-investing in paid placements. That's the cautionary message from one media agency executive, who argues the industry's obsession with return on ad spend is leading brands down a costly path. "Retail [...]

Assembly’s Jason Lim: Cross-Media Measurement Is Not a ‘Panacea’

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CTV’s ROI Challenge: Why Premium Features May Be Undermining Returns

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The connected TV advertising market is booming, with spending projected to surpass traditional TV by 2028. But all those sophisticated targeting capabilities and premium ad formats that make CTV so appealing - could they actually be hurting advertisers' bottom lines? As marketers layer more bells and whistles onto their CTV campaigns - think audience targeting, content [...]

Hispanic Audiences Are Mainstream, Not Optional: TelevisaUnivision’s Richard Bertodatti

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Three Pillars for Retail Media Network Success in a Crowded Market

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - U.S. omnichannel retail media is projected to generate $71.67 billion in 2026, as retailers work to unify in-store and digital operations. But, with more than 240 networks now vying for advertiser dollars, retail media is getting as crowded as crowded as Walmart on Black Friday. The explosion of options has created a fragmented landscape. The path forward [...]

Wunderkind’s Adam Gendelman: Pause Ads Drive 79% Lower Cost Per Action Than Other CTV Formats

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Trust Is the Real Currency in Commerce Media: Chase Media’s Lauren Griewski

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Infolinks Media’s Bob Regular: Real-Time Intent Signals Are ‘Precious’ Compared to ‘Stale’ Modeled Data

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OpenX’s Erika Loberg: Attention Should Measure ‘Real Human Engagement,’ Not Just Screen Presence

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Advertisers Chasing Chatbot Intimacy Confront Obstacles: U of Digital’s Tameka Kee

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