Priorities Beyond AI: The Ad Investments Reshaping Media Strategies In 2026

Like so many of us, advertisers and marketers are obviously putting focus on their AI capabilities.

And as MediaOcean’s recent 2026 H1 Advertising Outlook report shows which ad capabilities are top priorities, AI’s appearance as most critical for 39% isn’t a surprise.

No, the surprise is the investments that are just as critical, yet appear deprioritized from surveys past.

 

Global Advertising & Marketing Spending Forecast 2026-2030

Global Total Advertising & Marketing Spending Rose 6.6% in 2025 to $2.12 Trillion; Projected to Rise 9.8 % in 2026 

 

Staff Journalists Sacked And Misleadingly Replaced With AI Writers

A network of prominent gaming sites has fired multiple human staff in recent days and misleadingly replaced them with AI writers, complete with fake pics and biogs. … Videogamer staff and [freelancers], who did not want to be named and said the company still owed them money, said late last year the new owner began to load the sites with AI-written stories about casinos.

 

Signals From The Stage: What ANA Masters of Marketing Revealed About the Future of Brands

Consumers are shifting from doing everything themselves to directing intelligent agents to do it for them — evolving from task-doers into experience directors. … 71 percent of respondents say the industry must establish ethical and privacy standards as AI begins making choices on consumers’ behalf.