Executive summary
85% of advertisers plan to increase retail and commerce media spending over the next year, and 86% say slow audience fulfilment would make them cut spend or leave a partner. Half wait four or more days for a custom audience.
Key findings
- 85% Budgets are growing
Plan to increase retail and commerce media spend; 73% allocate at least 15% of digital ad budgets to these networks. - 86% Patience is short
Would reduce spend or leave a partner if audience fulfilment were slow. - 92% Speed matters
Would likely increase spend with a faster partner; 85% would pay a premium for same-day fulfilment. - 40% Measurement confidence is low
Very confident in networks' incrementality measurement.
Methodology
Survey of advertisers by GrowthLoop and Ascend2; method and sample size not given in the coverage read.
MarTech’s Constantine von Hoffman reported on the index on October 16, 2026; the full report requires registration.
How to read it
The results are self-reported, the sample size and method were not in the excerpt, and the links between investment and confidence are correlational. MarTech’s content is written by Semrush staff or paid contractors unless noted.