Media is playing a growing role in our lives, fast becoming 100% addressable, 100% shoppable, and 100% accountable.
At dentsu, we call this the algorithmic era of media.
This article is extracted from The Year of Impact | 2025 Media Trends, dentsu’s 15th annual trends report.
Technology has always developed in different ways across the world. Yet, despite regional differences, there has been a global push toward more connectivity and access to digital services during the past two decades.
Today, this democratization of technology is facing new headwinds, and this famous quote from the author William Gibson has never seemed truer: “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.”
Regulators flex their muscles
While the world has never been as connected as today, technology platforms and regulators are engaged in an intensifying legal and reputational game of chess, defending what they see as their legitimate interests and trying to sway public opinion in their favor.
Mounting anti-trust probes, privacy directives, national security concerns, encryption laws, and regulations to curb carbon emissions across the world clash with the global ambitions and features trumpeted by platforms. For instance, Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority recently suspended the validity of Meta’s privacy policy relative to the use of personal data for training generative artificial intelligence.
As a result, platforms could be forced to offer more local versions of their products, and brands now have to operate in an increasingly uncertain landscape, which requires them to closely follow this constant powerplay as they make their own strategic investment decisions.
Artificial intelligence widens the technology gap
In the last decade, smartphones have been capable of similar functions, albeit with differences in speed and picture quality. Now, the newest AI features bring major changes as they require a level of computational power that only the semiconductors of high-end devices can handle. For example, Apple Intelligence’s backward compatibility on mobile phones will only extend to two flagship iPhones from 2023 – all prior or inferior phones will not support the feature.
With some AI services available only to the fraction of people who can afford upgrades, it is not surprising that just 43% of consumers across the world agree that AI is likely to help build a more equal world in the next ten years.
New paywalls are being raised
In addition to new requirements for AI, other developments may widen the digital divide between the haves and the haves not. More content once available for free is now being hidden behind paywalls as publishers look to monetize their audiences. This includes major news titles such as The New York Times that is reportedly moving its podcasts behind a paywall.
Once again, the future looks unevenly distributed; bright for some, but not for many.
What’s next?
Despite platforms’ global scope and AI’s infinite scale, the future is likely to be more fragmented across the world as technology increasingly becomes a political issue. Considering this widening digital divide, advertisers could have a greater role to play in supporting access to news for those who cannot afford it.
This is the tenth of ten trends discussed in dentsu’s The Year of Impact | 2025 Media Trends report.