Dentsu today released the last and by far most pessimistic update of the major agency holding company forecasts, estimating U.S. and worldwide ad spending fell 7.5% and 8.8%, respectively, in 2020, though those ad economies are projected to bounce back beginning this year. In terms of media, cinema and out-of-home were not-so-surprisingly the hardest hit during a global pandemic that kept many people away from public gathering places, though they also are projected to begin bouncing back this year.

The number of advertising and marketing services providers certified as being diverse by the Association of National Advertisers has more than doubled to 212, according to an updated version of the ANA's "Certified Diverse Suppliers for Marketing and Advertising" report. The directory includes agencies and media, production, promotion, and research companies and was launched in July 2020 following an ANA report, "The Power of Supplier Diversity."

The major agency holding companies and/or management consultant parent companies made fewer and smaller acquisition deals in 2020 than they did in year's past, according to the just-released 2020 MarCom Agency Acquisitions report from Comvergence. While the total number of deals declined only 20% to 47 in 2020 from 51 in 2019, the drop in value and staff additions were considerably steeper, year-over-year.

Twenty years ago, with very few exceptions, four broadcast networks were the only places you could find new original scripted series programming - and basically only six or seven months out of the year. This started to change in the late 1990s with the debuts of HBO's "Oz," "The Sopranos," and "Sex in the City," then changed for good in 2002 with the premiere of FX's "The Shield." In this week's edition, I examine how that all changed again with Netflix's 2013 launch of "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black," and why the shift toward original streaming …

A new report released as part of its campaign to convince Australian regulators not to impose a new law giving news media negotiating rights with Google, provides a glimpse inside the overall impact the company has on national economies. The "2020 Economic Impact Report" shows Google's total impact on Australia's economy totaled $53 billion last year, including $39 billions to businesses (mostly from search ads) and $14 billion to consumers Down Under.

Following one of the worst recessions recorded by the U.S. marketing industry, advertising and marketing spending are projected to expand 10.2% this year to $374.2 billion, according to estimates released today by Winterberry Group. That nonetheless represents a 1.3% declined from 2019, the previous year of U.S. marketing budget expansion.

Consumer technology researcher Parks Associates released new data in conjunction with this week's CES conference showing a significant percentage of U.S. broadband households have been experiencing disruption issues due while weathering the COVID-19 pandemic at home.

The global infodemic -- ie. disinformation and "fake news" -- has driven trust in all news sources to record lows with social media (35%) and owned media (41%) the least trusted, while traditional media (53%) saw the largest overall drop, according to the latest edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer.

A study released in conjunction with this week's CES conference, indicates that the pandemic has had a material impact on the role consumer technology plays for many Americans. Forty-seven percent of 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed by Toluna on January 4th, said the pandemic has changed the way they use and view the role of technology in their lives.

Slightly more than half (52.7%) of all Americans do not subscribe to any email newsletters for news or entertainment content, according to findings of a nationally representative survey fielded by What If Media Group in late December. One reason might be newsletter revenue models. The study found that 84.1% of consumers are not willing to pay a subscription fee to access the type of content they like to read the most.