Q3 2026 Digital Marketing Trends: New Signals for Media Strategy in the Agentic Era

Joshua Dreller

Explore Q3 performance across retail media, paid search, and paid social, alongside the latest developments in AI-led campaign execution. Get the data and analysis behind full-funnel investment, Q4 optimization, Cyber 5 pacing, and planning for the new year.

Dig Into the Details
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Based on Skai platform data covering nearly $10 billion in advertising spend, the report highlights key trends shaping digital advertising.

Retail Media Spend Grew 7% as Clicks Rose 20%. Prime Day’s move to Q2 makes the standalone Q3 figure incomplete. Combined Q2 and Q3 spend actually grew 16%, with clicks up 23%.

Amazon DSP Spend Rose 34% as CPC Fell 44%. Average CPC fell to $0.99, close to Sponsored Products at $0.94, giving advertisers reason to reassess how audience building and demand capture work together.

AI Max Adoption Reached Two-Thirds of Google Accounts. Adoption reached 66% in September, up from 38% in January, as AI-led execution is receiving a greater share of advertising investment.

Paid Social Clicks Rose 49% as CPC Fell 6%. TikTok’s share of paid social investment also rose from 13% to 20%, adding to the decisions advertisers face when allocating budgets across platforms.

Agentic AI Is Taking On More Media Decisions. As AI-led campaign execution expands, advertisers need connected intelligence to evaluate performance across channels and understand each channel’s contribution to consideration, conversion, and growth.

Prime Big Deal Days Revealed Opportunities in Ramp-Up Planning. Ramp-up clicks cost 28% less than event-day clicks, while event-day conversion rates were 15% higher. These findings offer practical guidance for Cyber 5 pacing and holiday campaign optimization.

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In this report:

Explore Q3 digital advertising performance and planning insights, including:

    • Performance Metrics: Retail media, paid search, and paid social spend, click, cost, and conversion trends, including how media efficiency relates to business outcomes.
    • Retail Media Deep Dive: Amazon DSP investment and efficiency, Walmart and emerging networks, formats, and category benchmarks.
    • Paid Search and Paid Social: CPC trends, Performance Max, AI Max adoption, TikTok investment, and social engagement.
    • AI and Media Decisions: AI advertising developments, external agent integrations, automated campaign execution, and cross-channel investment decisions.
    • Q4 Planning and Q1 Reset: Prime Big Deal Days findings, DSP ramp-up performance, Cyber 5 pacing, and guidance for post-holiday performance.
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