Ad Advance

02/26/2026

WDIO stopped by Ad Advance yesterday to cover our next chapter: joining forces with PODEAN.

A Duluth agency now stepping onto a global stage - checkout the story:

Ad Advance in Duluth has joined forces with Podean, a global leader in strategy, media, and content solutions.

02/19/2026

Big news to share: Ad Advance is joining PODEAN!

As of today, we are Ad Advance, powered by Podean - combining our retail media expertise and technology with Podean’s global marketplaces platform.

What this means for clients:
🔹Same trusted team and relationships
🔹Same focus on performance and innovation
🔹Expanded capabilities across global marketplaces, creative, content, logistics, and more

Together, we’re building one of the most comprehensive retail media and marketplaces offerings in the industry. Here's to an exciting next chapter!

Read the full announcement here: https://adadvance.com/blog/ad-advance-joins-podean/

01/20/2026

Roku. Disney. Netflix. Spotify. SiriusXM. Microsoft. iHeartRadio.

All major partnerships Amazon announced within about six months last year.

Individually, these look like integrations. Together, they point to something bigger: A single planning layer for premium CTV, audio, and streaming, powered by logged-in identity and commerce signals.

We broke down what Amazon is building, why it matters for advertisers today, and what we expect this to unlock in 2026.

Read: https://adadvance.com/blog/amazons-2025-partnership-wave/

12/17/2025

Happy Holidays from the Ad Advance team!

We rang in the season with our annual Holiday Party - packed with an ugly sweater contest, a holiday bake-off, and a white elephant gift exchange!

2025 was a year of growth and milestones for our team, and yesterday was all about celebrating those wins. Here’s to carrying the momentum into 2026!

12/11/2025

Black Friday-Cyber Monday 2025 confirmed what we saw last year: extended deal windows, informed shoppers, and flatter demand curves.

Our new article breaks down the data, compares results to 2024, and outlines the strategies top brands used to win this season.

Explore the insights:

The 2025 holiday shopping season is now behind us—and while sales hit record levels again, the story behind those numbers looks very different from what advertisers have come to expect. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still tentpole events, but neither functioned as the dramatic, two-day spike t...

12/05/2025

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 delivered record seasonal demand, but the shape of the shopping curve changed dramatically.

Traffic surged earlier, conversions spread across more days, and AI tools - like Amazon’s Rufus price tracking - shifted how shoppers evaluated deals.

In our latest episode of The Ad Project, Maarja Hewitt and Erik Swenson break down this year’s performance, the behavior shifts behind it, and what these trends mean for brands preparing for 2026

Listen: https://adadvance.com/captivate-podcast/black-friday-cyber-monday-2025-results/
Watch: https://youtu.be/LdxZ3F3p2UA?si=fWahPu6eTLp0TCe_

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 are in the books, and the numbers look different from what many advertisers expected. In Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2025 ...

11/17/2025

LIVE from Amazon Ads unBoxed!

CEO Joe Shelerud had the chance to sit down with Meredith McTernan Goldman, Director of Media Enablement at Amazon Ads, in Nashville last week during the big event.

Get an inside look at some of the week's biggest announcements ⬇️

Listen: https://adadvance.com/captivate-podcast/inside-amazon-ads-unboxed-ai-dsp-amc/
Watch: https://youtu.be/ZYVdvNwpmS0?si=82-_TunSRxxyX3AO

Join us for a special episode recorded at Amazon Ads unBoxed, where Joe Shelerud interviews Meredith Goldman, Director of Media Enablement at Amazon Ads. Mer...

11/12/2025

Amazon Ads unBoxed 2025 introduced a wave of new features centered on one theme: agentic AI.

From Creative Agent to the new Campaign Manager, these tools are designed to unify creative, media, and measurement into one intelligent ecosystem.

We’ve broken down each announcement, what it means for advertisers, and how you can use them to scale smarter.

Read the full analysis here⬇️

Amazon Ads unBoxed 2025 event unveiled agentic AI tools - Creative Agent, Ads Agent, and Campaign Manager - reshaping creative, media, and measurement.

11/06/2025

1,128 weekend meals packed for kids in need across the region!

A crew of Ad Advancers spent the morning volunteering at Second Harvest Northland, helping pack food for their BackPack Program.

For many children in our region, school meals are the only ones they can count on. The BackPack Program bridges that gap - providing nutritious, easy-to-prepare food that teachers, school nurses, and social workers discreetly place in students’ backpacks each Friday, ensuring they have enough to eat through the weekend.

A huge thank-you to Second Harvest for the incredible work they do fighting hunger across Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and for hosting us for such a meaningful (and fun!) morning of giving back.

10/29/2025

One of our favorite Ad Advance traditions — our annual Halloween party!

Partners and kids will be stopping by soon to trick-or-treat through the office. Happy Halloween from all of us at Ad Advance!

And if you’d like to join our (slightly spooky) team, we’re hiring: adadvance.com/careers

10/28/2025

The latest episode of The Ad Project just dropped and it's a good one!

Tune in to hear Part 2 of Joe's conversation with Roger Branham, a software engineer here at Ad Advance who has been following AI enhancements and its impact on advertising closely.

Listen: https://adadvance.com/captivate-podcast/ai-advertising-revolution/
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SeRzd1-JZU