Retail media will be the source of most search ad spending growth in the coming years

As generative AI’s influence over the search market grows, so will a crop of thorny issues: increased ad costs, assimilation of new infrastructures, diminished user interactions, and more. But retail media search will thrive. This year, just over a quarter (26.7%) of all search ad dollars will be spent on retailer and retailer-affiliated properties. Over the next few years, retail media will account for more new search ad dollars, and by 2027 it will represent well over a third (37.2%) of the market.

Amazon’s scale is unmatched amid increasing competition

• Amazon is leading the market—by a lot. It will rake in nearly $24.54 billion in search ad revenues this year, making its search ad business more than 12 times bigger than that of Walmart, the next largest player in retail media search.
• Walmart is still one to watch. It will only account for 6.6% of retail media search ad spending this year, but its search ad revenues are growing more than twice as fast as those of any other platform we track.