Human Truths in the Algorithmic Era - 2026 Media Trends
Not long ago, the media landscape was dominated by a few major players. But everything is changing - TikTok has transformed how we discover culture, OpenAI has blurred the lines between search engines and knowledge oracles, and the stability of the 2010s now feels fragile.
The media landscape is rapidly evolving as TikTok reshapes cultural discovery and OpenAI blurs the boundaries between search engines and sources of knowledge.
How can brands grow in these times of change? dentsu’s 16th annual Media Trends report brings together the key insights, grounded in three enduring human behavior patterns:
- ''We are simple until we are complex'' - about convenience, motivations, and opportunities in search engines, AI agents, and e-commerce.
- ''We are social animals'' - about communities, in-person events, and messaging as a competitive advantage.
- ''We don’t read advertising'' - about the quality of attention, the precision of signals, and new opportunities in the entertainment industry.
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