2026 State of Mobile is Live!
Retail Media Insights · Sensor Tower · February 2026
How Gen AI Prompted a Retail Media Surge
As Generative AI entered the mainstream in 2025, brands across the category turned to Retail Media to fuel discovery and adoption. We explored how top players like Microsoft, Google, and Adobe used Retail Media to shape perceptions and differentiate.
Retail Media Surged as Gen AI Entered the Chat
In Sensor Tower’s 2026 State of Mobile report, Generative AI stood out as a key growth driver in the mobile ecosystem, with app downloads doubling YoY. That same momentum played out across Retail Media, where category impressions were up +165% YoY.
The largest impression spike occurred in October, driven by a Microsoft Copilot campaign at Costco, promoting “Copilot + PCs,” Microsoft’s all-new category of computers specifically designed for AI
Microsoft Copilot Took the Driver’s Seat
Eight Generative AI brands were behind the category growth in 2025. Microsoft Copilot dominated with 392M impressions, followed by Google AI (132M) and Adobe (129M).
While Copilot included Costco in their retailer mix, all other brands focused their efforts on Amazon and Best Buy.
For Google AI, the category’s 2nd largest advertiser, messaging highlighted Gemini integrations across their range of hardware lines, including laptops, smartphones, and smart home devices, showcasing AI’s versatility in daily life.
Video Channels Brought AI Use Cases to Life
On Retail Media, Gen AI brands leaned into video channels like OTT and YouTube to demonstrate their value in action.
Open AI’s ChatGPT ran 100% of their impressions on OTT at Amazon, where creatives showed the AI assistant helping with practical everyday tasks, like trip planning, recipe discovery, and workout inspiration.
Anthropic followed a similar media strategy, running exclusively at Amazon, where impressions were split across OTT and OffSite Video. Their positioning, however, took a more aspirational tone, presenting Claude as “The AI for Problem Solvers,” with examples focused on more advanced use cases, like breakthroughs in science, math, and space exploration.
Video Creatives Showcased a Spectrum of AI Positioning
A closer look at top retail media video creatives revealed both common themes and distinct brand strategies. While most ads demonstrated practical AI use cases, differences in messaging offered insight into how each brand is carving out its own position.
For example, Microsoft Copilot emphasized laptop productivity for work and school, while Google framed Gemini integrations as a helpful companion for daily life.
Adobe, meanwhile, focused on the 2025 launch of Acrobat Studio, an all-new platform combining multiple Adobe tools with agentic AI to power creativity & productivity.
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