IAB Connected Commerce Summit 2026

The majority of retail transactions still happen inside physical stores, but are the media environments within those spaces connected to the sophisticated targeting capabilities available online? T-Mobile Advertising Solutions is now positioning itself as a bridge between the two worlds, offering retailers a turnkey system to transform their stores into “addressable media environments.” “I think […]

Most discussions of artificial intelligence in advertising and media circles still largely revolve around how to use the technology to generate actual growth, as opposed to achieving some level of efficiency. Target’s Roundel believes it can do both with its Precision Plus program. Billed as Roundel’s AI-based performance engine, Roundel uses it to optimize audience […]

NEW YORK — Financial services, telecom, and insurance companies are outpacing traditional consumer packaged goods advertisers in adopting in-store media because they face fewer structural budget and agency relationship challenges when funding new advertising formats. “The irony of it is that it’s been a lot easier for non-endemic brands to lean into the space than […]

NEW YORK – Commerce media is no longer content to sit quietly beside sponsored search listings and wait for last-click credit. The category is expanding fast, grabbing budget, attention and probably several internal org charts. U.S. commerce media advertising grew 18% to $64.3 billion in 2025, according to IAB data, outpacing the 13.9% gain for […]

Historical definitions of television are breaking down under the weight of digital video delivery. What was once defined by a physical hardware device and strict broadcast quality standards is now simply any screen where video is consumed. This shifting paradigm forces advertisers to rethink how they deliver their messages across all devices and moments. “People […]

Proving that an ad actually moved the needle – rather than just touched a customer who was already buying – has become a central challenge for retail media networks. Best Buy Ads is betting that a layered measurement approach, combining geo-based incrementality testing with SKU-level attribution and marketing mix modeling, will give advertisers the confidence […]

NEW YORK – At the IAB Connected Commerce Summit, Ryan Verklin, paid media and retail media senior lead at Bayer, delivered a useful reminder to an industry that sometimes treats every dashboard as a victory parade: winning in retail media requires more than colorful graphs and aggressive sales decks. “What does winning look like in […]

NEW YORK – At the IAB Connected Commerce Summit, Amelia Van Camp, head of agentic commerce at AI firm Mirakl, offered a timely reminder for anyone convinced AI shopping agents are already buying socks, cereal and patio furniture on humanity’s behalf: not so fast. “So agentic commerce is in concept, in theory,” Van Camp said […]

NEW YORK — The artificial intelligence summary is the first thing anyone sees after conducting an online search. The content that follows those summaries are increasingly AI-driven. That creates complex trust scenarios where artificial intelligence agents act autonomously on behalf of humans while learning and adapting to anticipate user preferences without direct oversight. “Over 50% […]

For years, brands have treated influencers as glorified billboards while simultaneously judging them by conversion metrics they were never designed to deliver. The result has often been a mismatch between brand goals and measurement, with creators consistently under-credited for the discovery, trust-building, and purchase intent they generate before a single transaction occurs. That disconnect is […]

NEW YORK — Ace Hardware may be famous for paint, screws and the reassuring smell of lumber, but now it also sells advertising. Molly Hjelm, head of retail media at Ace, says the co-op’s unusual structure gives it a distinctive angle in the ad business now sweeping retail. “Ace Hardware is a unique business model […]

NEW YORK — Commerce media is booming so fast it may soon need its own zoning permit. Caroline Giegerich, vice president of artificial intelligence at IAB, said the sector is expected to reach $105 billion in 2025, roughly triple the size of four years ago, which is the sort of growth chart that makes PowerPoint […]

NEW YORK — Physical shopping experiences are far from dead for younger consumers, despite the view that Gen Z lives are primarily lived within the confines of TikTok. That realization is reshaping how brands think about the consumer journey. But there’s a sticking point: how can brands tap into authentic discovery moments that balance digital […]

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 […]