Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the main reasons people return items, the different policies we would keep or curb to help get returns under control, and the number one way to reduce returns. Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, and Senior Analyst Blake Droesch.
 
Get more insights like these with our free, industry-leading newsletters covering advertising, marketing, and commerce. Sign up at emarketer.com/newslettersFollow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/For sponsorship opportunities contact us: advertising@emarketer.comFor more information visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com For a transcript of this episode click here:https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-returns-problem-how-keep-things-sold-customers-happy-reimagining-retail© 2026 EMARKETER

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss whether AI slop is becoming a problem on YouTube, the ways AI is helping—and hindering—brand safety efforts for advertisers, and what marketers can do about AI’s influence on how their ads appear. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Jacob Bourne and Principal Analyst Bill Fisher. Listen anywhere, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.
 
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For a transcript of this episode, click here: https://www.emarketer.com/content/
podcast-ai-brand-safety-s-frenemy-behind-numbers
 
© 2026 EMARKETER

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss what’s broken in how we evaluate media, the problem with reach, and what “quality inventory” actually means. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Arielle Feger and David Simon, Chief Revenue Officer of Verve and President of Verve Marketplace. Listen anywhere, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.
 
Get more insights like these with our free, industry-leading newsletters covering advertising, marketing, and commerce. Sign up at emarketer.com/newslettersFollow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/For sponsorship opportunities contact us: advertising@emarketer.comFor more information visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com For a transcript of this episode click here:https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-media-quality-measurement-gap-between-seeing-knowing-behind-numbers© 2026 EMARKETER
 
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Verve’s global omnichannel advertising platform redefines what’s possible beyond walled gardens. Verve illuminates, connects, and activates high-fidelity signals that drive outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers at scale.
 
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In today’s podcast episode, we discuss what’s broken in how we evaluate media, the problem with reach, and what “quality inventory” actually means. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Arielle Feger and David Simon, Chief Revenue Officer of Verve and President of Verve Marketplace. Listen anywhere, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.
 
Get more insights like these with our free, industry-leading newsletters covering advertising, marketing, and commerce. Sign up at emarketer.com/newslettersFollow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/For sponsorship opportunities contact us: advertising@emarketer.comFor more information visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com For a transcript of this episode click here:https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-media-quality-measurement-gap-between-seeing-knowing-behind-numbers© 2026 EMARKETER
 
Illuminate. Connect. Activate.
 
Verve’s global omnichannel advertising platform redefines what’s possible beyond walled gardens. Verve illuminates, connects, and activates high-fidelity signals that drive outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers at scale.
 
Learn more
 

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the stats that best explain how sports betting is taking over America, Americans’ sentiment toward how betting impacts sports and society, and how brands might be able to get involved in the betting space responsibly. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Principal Forecasting Writer Ethan Cramer-Flood and Senior Forecasting Analyst Zach Goldner. Listen everywhere, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.
 
Get more insights like these with our free, industry-leading newsletters covering advertising, marketing, and commerce. Sign up at emarketer.com/newslettersFollow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/For sponsorship opportunities contact us: advertising@emarketer.comFor more information visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com For a transcript of this episode click here:https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-america-love-hate-relationship-with-sports-betting-game© 2026 EMARKETER
 
Illuminate. Connect. Activate.
Verve’s global omnichannel advertising platform redefines what’s possible beyond walled gardens. Verve illuminates, connects, and activates high-fidelity signals that drive outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers at scale.
Learn more at https://verve.com/?utm_campaign=40660637-2026_emarketer&utm_source=emarketer&utm_medium=podcast
 

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the stats that best explain how sports betting is taking over America, Americans’ sentiment toward how betting impacts sports and society, and how brands might be able to get involved in the betting space responsibly. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Principal Forecasting Writer Ethan Cramer-Flood and Senior Forecasting Analyst Zach Goldner. Listen everywhere, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.
 
Get more insights like these with our free, industry-leading newsletters covering advertising, marketing, and commerce. Sign up at emarketer.com/newslettersFollow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/For sponsorship opportunities contact us: advertising@emarketer.comFor more information visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com For a transcript of this episode click here:https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-america-love-hate-relationship-with-sports-betting-game© 2026 EMARKETER
 
Illuminate. Connect. Activate.
Verve’s global omnichannel advertising platform redefines what’s possible beyond walled gardens. Verve illuminates, connects, and activates high-fidelity signals that drive outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers at scale.
Learn more at https://verve.com/?utm_campaign=40660637-2026_emarketer&utm_source=emarketer&utm_medium=podcast
 

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how this kind of energy-driven inflation shows up differently for retailers compared to what we saw with tariffs last year, the ripple effects that are being underestimated, and which of these changes we think are temporary versus those that will actually reshape how people shop. Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst Zak Stambor, and Analyst Rachel Wolff.
 
Get more insights like these with our free, industry-leading newsletters covering advertising, marketing, and commerce. Sign up at emarketer.com/newslettersFollow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/For sponsorship opportunities contact us: advertising@emarketer.comFor more information visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com For a transcript of this episode click here:https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-how-war-impacting-american-consumers-wallets-reimagining-retail© 2026 EMARKETER
 
Illuminate. Connect. Activate.
Verve’s global omnichannel advertising platform redefines what’s possible beyond walled gardens. Verve illuminates, connects, and activates high-fidelity signals that drive outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers at scale.
Learn more at https://verve.com/?utm_campaign=40660637-2026_emarketer&utm_source=emarketer&utm_medium=podcast

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss: What if Meta keeps losing all these lawsuits? What if Meta bought Roku? What if Amazon’s new smartphone is a hit?
 
Subscribe to EMARKETER's newsletters. Go to https://www.emarketer.com/newsletters
 
Follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/
 
For sponsorship opportunities, contact us: advertising@emarketer.com
 
For more information, visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/
 
Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com 
 
For a transcript of this episode, click here: https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-what-if-meta-bought-roku-amazon-s-new-smartphone-hit-behind-numbers
 
© 2026 EMARKETER
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Illuminate. Connect. Activate.​
Verve’s global omnichannel advertising platform redefines what’s possible beyond walled gardens. Verve illuminates, connects, and activates high-fidelity signals that drive outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers at scale.
Learn more

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss what if Apple delivers on its vision of Apple Intelligence? What if Abercrombie evolves beyond retail into a lifestyle brand? What if Google starts paying for the content its AI uses?
 
Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian, and Principal Analysts Nate Elliott and Yory Wurmser. Listen anywhere, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.
 
Get more insights like these with our free, industry-leading newsletters covering advertising, marketing, and commerce. Sign up at emarketer.com/newslettersFollow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/For sponsorship opportunities contact us: advertising@emarketer.comFor more information visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com For a transcript of this episode click here:https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-what-if-abercrombie-was-lifestyle-google-s-ai-paid-content-behind-numbers© 2026 EMARKETER
 
Made possible by
​Illuminate. Connect. Activate.​
Verve’s global omnichannel advertising platform redefines what’s possible beyond walled gardens. Verve illuminates, connects, and activates high-fidelity signals that drive outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers at scale.
Learn more

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the difficulty of defining a department store, what to keep or discard from the old model, and how success should be measured. Listen to the discussion with Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Principal Analyst Paul Briggs, and Analyst Rachel Wolff.
 
Get more insights like these with our free, industry-leading newsletters covering advertising, marketing, and commerce. Sign up at emarketer.com/newslettersFollow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/For sponsorship opportunities contact us: advertising@emarketer.comFor more information visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com For a transcript of this episode click here:https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-department-store-reinvention-old-rules-vs-new-success-reimagining-retail© 2026 EMARKETER
 
Illuminate. Connect. Activate.
Verve’s global omnichannel advertising platform redefines what’s possible beyond walled gardens. Verve illuminates, connects, and activates high-fidelity signals that drive outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers at scale.
Learn more at https://verve.com/?utm_campaign=40660637-2026_emarketer&utm_source=emarketer&utm_medium=podcast