Media Sync for July 31, 2025: Amazon pulls out of Google Shopping ads

Rise Media Sync is a new column from Rise that quickly summarizes media and platform news of interest to marketers. Here are five key developments the Rise team is monitoring:

What’s happening: Amazon has pulled out of Google Shopping ads across the U.S., U.K., and Germany.

What we know:

• Amazon’s Google Shopping impression share dropped to zero last week, per data shared with MediaPost.
• Analysts speculate this move is part of a broader strategic shift, possibly tied to AI search turf battles between Amazon and Google.
• The move follows a smaller-scale pullback by Amazon during Q2 2025.

Early indications and perspective: Amazon’s exit creates a highly unusual auction reset. For brands competing in Google Shopping, this could significantly improve efficiency and scale in Q3, especially as Amazon’s timing aligns with broader auction volatility from Temu and Shein. The drop-off in CPCs (cost-per-clicks) presents an opportunity to capture demand and shift market share. Advertisers should move quickly to test and expand spend while this gap persists.

What’s happening: Through a new partnership, advertisers can access LG’s smart TVs through Viant’s demand-side platform (DSP), bypassing intermediaries.

What we know:

• This new “unified pipeline” pairs LG’s glass-level CTV access to a claimed 45 million devices with Viant’s Household ID to boost addressability and streamline campaign execution.
• The system aims to increase ad relevance and ROI without relying on third-party cookies, using real-time data, contextual targeting (via data from IRIS.TV, which Viant acquired last year) and Viant’s identity graphing.
• This integration is housed within Viant’s existing Direct Access program.

Early indications and perspective: CTV is emerging as a legitimate full-funnel performance media channel; direct CTV inventory access should give advertisers more control over targeting, performance and transparency. For marketing strategists, the value proposition that Viant and LG present — privacy-safe, precision-based streaming campaigns that combine identity-first data with real-time contextual tools — underscores why CTV is among the fastest-growing ad channels not just for reach, but also for impact.

What’s happening: Microsoft Advertising has officially launched Lifetime Budgets (LTB), enabling advertisers to set a fixed total spend over the full campaign duration.

What we know:

• The new feature simplifies long-term budget management by reducing the level of daily oversight needed to execute campaigns.
• LTB is available to all Microsoft Audience Ads customers, can be applied to individual campaigns and can run up to 365 days.
• Microsoft is foregrounding LTB’s potential to minimize financial risk, thanks to refund protection and automated delivery pauses (when spending limits are reached).

Early indications and perspective: This update addresses a common advertiser pain point by allowing more predictable, low-maintenance budgeting for seasonal or fixed-length campaigns: Marketers can plan long-running display efforts without constant budget tweaking. The addition of this feature, alongside improvements like impression-based remarketing, positions Microsoft Audience Ads as a more flexible and competitive platform.

What’s happening: Enhanced analytics are rolling out on Threads, providing creators with more granular info about who’s engaging with their content and how it was discovered.

What we know:

• The update introduces new metrics revealing audience location, more detailed demographic data (age range, gender) and interaction types (likes, replies, quotes, reposts) within the Threads Insights dashboard.
• A “View sources” feature shows where content was seen across Threads and other Meta apps, including discovery via Instagram and Facebook, giving a clear picture of overall reach and resonance.
• In recent months, Threads has tested several other creator-friendly tools, including a new direct messaging system and video ads.

Early indications and perspective: Enhanced cross-app reach metrics may make Threads a more attractive platform for creators seeking broader visibility within Meta’s ecosystem. Marketers should consider integrating Threads analytics insights to better target and engage niche audiences, leveraging the expanded discovery paths now visible through these new tools.

What’s happening: Google has launched Branded Searches, a new conversion metric that measures how many users searched for a brand on Google or YouTube after seeing an ad.

What we know:

• First introduced at Google Marketing Live 2025 (which you can find our takeaways here), this metric captures upper-funnel brand lift that was previously difficult to quantify.
• Branded Searches works across YouTube, Performance Max (YouTube, Discover, Gmail) and Demand Gen (YouTube, Discover Feed, Gmail) campaigns with a 30-day view-through attribution window.
• Optimization isn’t currently available but may be added later; accurate tracking requires proper brand-mapping setup.

Early indications and perspective: This new metric provides advertisers with a valuable tool to bridge the gap between brand awareness and measurable action, offering a clearer view of upper-funnel impact. While still early in adoption, this measurement could reshape how brands evaluate awareness-driven campaigns and optimize for long-term brand growth. Tracking branded searches may soon become standard practice for assessing the effectiveness of digital video and discovery campaigns.

• “VideoAmp builds momentum with Warner Bros. Discovery currency deal” (Marketing Dive)
• “Google Expands AI Search Sorting as AI Previews Eat Into Referral Traffic” (Social Media Today)
• “Linear Retains 86% Share Of Ad Impressions Even As Streaming Grows” (MediaPost)

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