The rush: what the AI boom means for advertising in 2026 (This Year Next Year)

Episode notes

The numbers tell one story. The forces behind them tell a far more interesting one. In this mid-year edition of This Year Next Year, Kate Scott-Dawkins unpacks a forecast that has been significantly upgraded since December - not in spite of geopolitical turbulence, but in some ways because of it. From the AI investment cycle reshaping advertiser behaviour across every category, to a new advertising channel that could scale faster than anything the industry has ever seen, to the uncomfortable questions about what ad-funded platforms owe the people they serve - this is the episode that sets the agenda for the next 18 months.

• How AI is supercharging a 1.3 trillion ad market (feat. Spotify at Cannes Lions)64 / 100
• Big tech earnings defy the macro - and AI is why
• The Meta & Google story, inflation, Netflix earnings, and EU merger reform
• Why ad markets hold when oil doesn't
• Oil shock, inflation, and the eCommerce boom: what it means for brands