mrge, the leading commerce growth suite for Commerce Advertising, has published its semi-annual industry report, “State of Commerce Advertising 1/2026”. The results are based on a survey of publishers, advertisers, and networks and highlight key developments and success factors in the market. As the industry evolves and consumers’ behaviour around research and discovery changes, one clear theme emerges: consumers are seeking authoritative publishers and sources of information. Publishers must evolve from being traffic providers to trusted authorities, with direct implications for budgets and partnerships.

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The report shows that the industry is lagging behind this paradigm shift, with a significant gap between industry evolution and organizational maturity. At a time when AI summaries are becoming more important than search ranking, we’ve found that just 11.3% of companies consider themselves very well prepared for the era of ‘zero-click discovery’, while 32.8% report being not prepared at all or only slightly prepared.

“We are experiencing the next evolutionary stage in Commerce Advertising,” says Dave Reed, CEO of mrge. “As consumers increasingly rely on AI-summarised results and turn to publishers they trust, brands need to navigate a new landscape, reaching consumers in the right contexts at the right price with the right data-driven optimization. In this landscape, publishers need the tools to effectively maximize their yield across the waterfall and spot areas of value where they can increase both monetization and advertiser ROAS.”

Further key findings from the survey include:

• AI agents are shaping purchase decisions: Nearly 60% of respondents already see AI agents as influencing online sales or in the near future. They expect that by the end of the year at the latest, more than a quarter of their online revenues will be influenced by AI-powered chatbots and shopping assistants during the purchase decision phase.
• Balancing stability and change: Companies are responding to the phenomenon of ‘zero-click discovery’ with a dual-track approach. On the one hand, they are compensating: 37.2% are strengthening their affiliate partnerships and 33.5% are increasing paid media budgets to offset traffic losses. On the other hand, they are transforming: around one third (31.7%) are optimizing content for AI-led discovery, while 22.6% are already testing AI-driven shopping assistants and marketplaces directly.
• Budgets follow measurable results: In 2026, investments will primarily flow to areas where purchase intent can be clearly measured. 66.7% expect the largest budget increases in affiliate marketing, followed by social commerce at 36.7%. By contrast, AI-driven discovery, at 27.1%, is not yet a primary budget target.
• More than a traffic issue: AI-driven, zero-click discovery also presents organizations with structural challenges. Beyond declining visibility, respondents primarily cite inadequate measurement models, limited internal AI expertise, and a lack of organizational and cultural change readiness as key barriers.

Despite these profound changes, overall sentiment within the Commerce Advertising industry remains highly positive. More than 57% of respondents report being satisfied or very satisfied with their business performance in 2025. This confidence is also reflected in expectations for the year ahead: over 63% plan to increase their Commerce Advertising budgets in 2026—underscoring the continued relevance and economic strength of Commerce Advertising.