 The Year of AI & Disruption 2024
Each year, clients rely on our insights to navigate their industries, and 2024 delivered plenty of challenges—TikTok’s potential ban, a global data privacy crackdown, and rising competition for Google stood out.
Here are the top 10 topics our customers searched for in the past year:
AI
The year 2024 was a whirlwind of AI activity in the marketing world, driven by a potent mix of opportunity and anxiety. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s prediction that AI would automate 95% of marketing tasks spurred agencies into action, with 90% adopting generative AI despite budget constraints. This frenzy was exemplified by Coca-Cola’s swift adoption of genAI video following OpenAI’s Sora announcement. Google, though facing scrutiny regarding preparedness, accelerated its AI integration, rolling it out to all advertisers in February and launching broader AI overviews in May. This culminated in the debut of AI Overview ads in October, signifying a dramatic shift in the search landscape.
 Social commerce
TikTok Shop’s aggressive entry into the US social commerce market, culminating in $100 million in Black Friday sales, reignited interest in this historically sluggish sector. However, consumer trust in social commerce remains low, hindering widespread adoption. While TikTok’s core platform may have experienced user growth deceleration due to a rocky Shop launch, it emerged by July as Gen Z’s top social commerce destination alongside Instagram, signaling a significant shift in the preferences of this influential demographic.
Social media
Social media remained a cornerstone of marketing strategies in 2024, despite facing significant challenges and constant evolution. Instagram expanded its creator marketplace and experimented with unskippable ads, while the US election underscored the critical importance of brand safety. The impact of social media on minors continued to be a major concern, with legislative action taken in various countries, including the US, Australia, and the UK. Reddit, following its successful IPO, demonstrated strong engagement and revenue growth. LinkedIn, meanwhile, increased ad prices, introduced innovative ad formats like Thought Leader ads, expanded its CTV solutions, and leveraged AI for enhanced optimization.
Digital ad spending
2024 saw a significant surge in digital ad spending across various sectors. Our forecast predicted a substantial increase, and Magna’s even more bullish outlook highlighted the growth, particularly in consumer goods driven by the direct-to-consumer (D2C) shift.
This increased spending brought concerns about ad waste, with a focus on optimizing spending across channels like Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile First Access (MFA) sites. To streamline the process, companies like Google introduced AI-powered chatbot tools to simplify ad creation.
The unexpected withdrawal of President Biden from the race significantly impacted ad spending, leading to analyses on how the election outcome would shape the future of digital advertising.
 Amazon
2024 was a pivotal year for Amazon, marked by significant shifts in its advertising strategy and a growing emphasis on streaming.
Prime Video’s entry into the ad-supported streaming market in Q1 proved to be a game-changer, forcing competitors like Netflix to adjust their pricing models. Amazon’s May Upfronts solidified the maturation of streaming advertising, and the company subsequently increased ad loads in 2025.
Advertising on Amazon itself became more expensive, though advertisers continued to see strong returns on ad spend (ROAS). Amazon also expanded its advertising offerings with the introduction of multiple shoppable video ad formats.
Thursday Night Football emerged as a key driver of Amazon’s streaming ambitions, attracting 50 new advertisers and surpassing $1.8 billion in streaming commitments.
While experiencing success in these areas, Amazon also faced challenges, including layoffs earlier in the year. The company also launched “Ad Relevance,” its post-cookie solution, demonstrating its commitment to navigating the evolving advertising landscape.
These developments underscore Amazon’s growing dominance in the advertising and streaming sectors, positioning the company for continued growth and innovation in the years to come.
Gen Z
Gen Z’s reliance on social search has fundamentally altered how marketers reach this influential demographic. As the most digitally active generation, understanding their social media-centric search behavior is crucial for brands.
This generation exhibits distinct consumer preferences:
- Shifting Spending Priorities: Gen Z is increasingly prioritizing wellness products and demonstrating a reduced interest in alcohol consumption.
- Longevity Focus: This cohort expresses a strong desire to invest in products and services that promote longevity and overall well-being.
- Evolving Shopping Habits: While digitally savvy, Gen Z is actively seeking alternatives to Amazon, indicating a desire for more diverse and potentially more sustainable shopping experiences.
By understanding these evolving trends and adapting their marketing strategies accordingly, brands can effectively engage and connect with this influential generation.
YouTube
YouTube’s dominance in the streaming landscape continued to solidify in 2024. Key factors fueling interest included:
- Unprecedented Viewership: YouTube maintained its position as the top-watched streamer for 12 consecutive months, culminating in achieving the best-ever US TV viewership month for a streaming platform.
- CEO Attributions: CEO Neal Mohan attributed this significant growth to the platform’s strategic focus on sports content and the increasing popularity of Connected TV (CTV) viewing.
- Enhanced Creator Tools: YouTube consistently invested in improving its creator ecosystem, including enhancements to creator and affiliate tools in February and the launch of the Affiliate Hub in April to provide creators with expanded monetization opportunities.
- Strategic Partnerships: The partnership with Instacart for shopping ads further integrated e-commerce into the YouTube experience, offering new revenue streams for both companies.
These factors collectively contributed to YouTube’s continued success and solidified its position as a leading force in the streaming industry.
TikTok
TikTok’s rapid growth continued in 2024, marked by its increasing dominance in search, surpassing even Google for some users. This was further solidified by the introduction of new features like image search and keyword-based search ads. While the potential for a US ban created significant uncertainty and impacted ad revenue growth, with Meta poised to benefit most from such an outcome, TikTok maintained key competitive advantages. These include higher affiliate engagement rates than Instagram and a successful strategy to increase user engagement through longer-form creator content, showcasing its adaptability and resilience in the evolving digital landscape.
Retail media
2024 solidified retail media’s explosive growth as a dominant force in digital advertising. EMARKETER forecast retail media spending to surpass one-fifth of global digital ad spending and drive the majority of search ad spending growth in the coming years. This surge was fueled by the rapid expansion of offsite retail media, with major players like Walmart Connect extending their reach to non-endemic brands. This trend was further accelerated by the entry of non-endemic players like Home Depot, Expedia, and Albertsons into the retail media space. Amazon’s strong Q4 2023 earnings further highlighted the burgeoning potential of this sector. Despite lower viewability rates, retail media placements consistently demonstrated high engagement rates, making it an increasingly attractive channel for advertisers.
Connected TV
2024 marked a pivotal year for Connected TV (CTV) advertising. Key developments included a surge in ad attention, catching up to linear TV, making it highly desirable for marketers. This was further fueled by industry consolidation, exemplified by Walmart’s acquisition of Vizio, and the expansion of programmatic access with Disney making its inventory available through The Trade Desk. The year culminated in the announcement of TTD’s dedicated CTV operating system, Ventura, signaling a major shift towards greater efficiency and control in CTV advertising.
