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The 2025 Industry Pulse Report from Integral Ad Science (IAS) was created based on a survey conducted in collaboration with YouGov in September 2024. It involved 254 digital advertising experts in the USA from advertisers, agencies, ad tech companies and publishers. The aim was to identify key challenges and opportunities that will shape digital advertising in 2025.
Dominance of Social Media and Digital Video in E-commerce Advertising
Social media remains the dominant element of digital advertising strategies. As many as 61% of experts identified it as their highest priority. However, deepfakes, disinformation and risks associated with brand safety pose a serious challenge.
Video content is increasingly intertwined with social platforms, which is why digital video advertising is growing – 71% of experts expect an increase in programmatic spending on video advertising.
For e-commerce brands, this means two key things:
- Investments in social shopping and influencer marketing are essential, as consumers increasingly shop directly through social networks. 70% of experts anticipate that influencer marketing will play an even greater role in 2025.
- Measuring media quality using artificial intelligence (AI) will be key to ensuring safe advertising placements, as 53% of experts consider social media to be the riskiest environment from a brand safety perspective.
AI, Deepfakes and the Threat to Brand Safety
The proliferation of AI-generated content and deepfakes is becoming one of the biggest threats to digital media quality. The report notes that 76% of experts emphasised the need for independent measurement to prevent ads being placed alongside deepfake content.
20% of experts consider deepfakes to be the most serious threat to media quality in 2025.
Retail Media: Balancing Personalisation and Privacy Protection
Retail media is becoming an essential part of e-commerce firms’ advertising strategies, but concerns about privacy and ad targeting remain a challenge:
- 68% of experts say that privacy restrictions will affect ad targeting in retail media.
- 58% believe that contextual targeting will be key to achieving campaign success without violating privacy rules.
This suggests a transition from advertising based on user data to contextual advertising, which focuses on the content and emotions associated with published material rather than users’ personal data.
Fighting Advertising Fraud and MFA Websites
Advertising fraud and Made-for-Advertising websites continue to drain advertising budgets. MFA sites, which are designed primarily to display advertisements rather than for genuine user engagement, accounted for 13% of programmatic advertising expenditure in the second quarter of 2024. With the advent of generative AI, creating them is becoming easier.
Source: IAS
New Opportunities in Gaming and CTV
New media are becoming an attractive space for e-commerce advertising. Gaming and Connected TV (CTV) offer new engagement possibilities, but also bring risks in terms of media quality:
- 73% of experts emphasise the importance of non-intrusive ad placement in games to avoid disrupting the user experience.
- 68% believe that CTV advertisements have low visibility rates, as they often run on screens without active viewing.
For e-commerce brands, this means that advertising in these formats requires strategic planning and thorough measurement of campaign effectiveness.
The Future of E-commerce Advertising in 2025
This report primarily reflects the situation in the American market. Regulations, consumer behaviour and advertising platforms may function differently there than in Europe. Nevertheless, the trends shaping digital advertising in the USA often influence global developments as well. What should we take away from this? If you want your advertisements to deliver results in 2025, you must have a clear strategy and control over where and how they appear. Generative AI and deepfakes increase the risks associated with advertising, so it’s important to avoid questionable placements and rely on trustworthy advertising environments.
Contextual targeting can help reach customers without invasive tracking, while new platforms such as CTV and gaming can bring new opportunities if you can use them effectively. Remember transparency, control over media quality and meaningful evaluation of campaign performance.
