Commerce Media

The advertising landscape is shifting towards commerce media, which encompasses retail media and extends to broader transactional contexts. Commerce media leverages first-party data to target ads in environments like airlines, hotels, financial platforms, coupon services, and payment systems (e.g., PayPal, Klarna). It differs from traditional advertising by integrating data-driven, personalized campaigns into transaction contexts.

Commerce media is rapidly overtaking traditional TV spend as marketers follow where consumer intent and data are strongest. Powered by first-party shopper data and proximity to the point of purchase, Retail Media Networks offer what brands want most: measurable impact. While AI is transforming how people discover products—through marketplaces, social platforms, and conversational search—media budgets are shifting more cautiously. Still, the global ad market continues to grow, with content-led advertising now dominating spend and AI acting as a catalyst for structural change across the industry. Despite unresolved challenges like offsite measurement and incrementality, commerce media’s logic is compelling. Brands are prioritizing channels that connect data, intent, and outcomes—signaling a fundamental shift in how advertising works and where dollars will continue to flow.