mrge Releases New Industry Report “State of Commerce Advertising 1/2026”

Why Reach Is No Longer Enough: Authority Emerges as the New Success Factor in Commerce Advertising

HAMBURG, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.

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 today 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.

The full report with all trends and insights is available here: mrge.com/report

About mrge

mrge is a powerful commerce growth suite that offers advertisers and publishers tailored solutions for growing their commerce revenue. Through proprietary research such as the State of Commerce Advertising series, mrge provides strategic insight into how Commerce Advertising is evolving in an AI-driven world. mrge combines the strengths of five market-leading companies to connect over 5,500 publishers, 80,000 advertisers, and 200 networks across more than 160 countries. By integrating smart tools, technologies, and formats, mrge brings campaign messages closer to content, creating value for publishers, advertisers, and users alike. Supported by the private equity investment group Waterland as the majority owner, mrge is led by CEO Dave Reed, CTO Nils Grabbert, CFO Andris Zelonka, and CRO Justin Kuykendall. With offices in Hamburg and Berlin (Germany) as well as Montreal and Ottawa (Canada), mrge employs over 160 professionals. mrge is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. Learn more at: mrge.com