News in brief: Walmart’s Ad Business Sees 28% Growth; Apple Starts Selling News Ads; X Partners with PubMatic 

Walmart’s Ad Business Sees 28% Growth

Walmart has reported a strong revenue growth for Q3, increasing 5.5% to a total of USD$169.6bn (£134bn). The retailer’s global advertising business grew by a staggering 28%, including 26% for Walmart Connect in the US. Meanwhile, its e-commerce sales increased 27%, led by store fulfilled pickup, delivery and marketplace.  

Apple Starts Selling News Ads

Next, a first for one of big tech’s biggest players: Apple has started to sell its own advertising inventory for Apple News, reports Axios. Although Apple has already been selling its own ad inventory through its App Store and search, it had been relying on third-party vendors to sell Apple News ads up until now. The tech giant is pitching new ad units hoping to maximise revenue for itself as well as its publishing partners. Apple plans to start selling premium sponsorships of editorially curated content for events such as the Met Gala starting from 2025. Looking ahead, new banner placements and video ad formats will also be available. 

X Partners with PubMatic 

In the social sphere, X is hoping to boost its ad revenue through a new partnership with PubMatic. The ad tech company will now be an authorised seller of X’s ads. Since Elon Musk’s takeover in 2022, X has been through considerable turbulence, with many major advertisers pulling their ads from the platform resulting in its ad spend dipping dramatically. It’s worth noting that the platform achieved an 800% spike in revenue among its top 100 advertisers in the week following the US election compared with the week prior, according to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower – although still down compared to the ad spend figures before Musk’s takeover.