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Account-Based Advertising Vendor Landscape

Roger Beharry Lall — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation looks at the account-based advertising (ABA) vendor landscape. ABA is rapidly emerging as the execution layer that unifies B2B intent, identity, and media at scale. Its importance is increasing in an environment defined by dark-funnel buying behavior, expanding buying committees, and persistent cross-device engagement.

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation provides a comprehensive view of the evolving ABA vendor landscape, outlining the capabilities, strengths, and trade-offs that differentiate providers. It focuses specifically on ABA — the tactical, paid media extension of account-based marketing (ABM) — and examines how digital advertising reaches key stakeholders within target accounts across channels such as display, social, CTV, and audio.

Vendor profiles are grounded in a structured capabilities framework that spans ABM foundations, programmatic functionality, walled garden strategies, intent data, orchestration, AI, integrations, service models, and extended media options. The result is a clear, benchmark-oriented perspective showing vendors excel and where limitations may exist.

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation is intended for senior B2B marketers, advertising leaders, demand generation leaders, and revenue teams seeking to evaluate or rationalize ABA partners, operationalize always-on account-based programs, and consolidate fragmented ABM investments into a cohesive, media-driven growth engine.

Tech Buyer Survey Spotlight: How Organizations Modernize Candidate Assessment and Skills Validation Strategy Across Regions and Company Sizes?

Abhinav Shrivastava — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Tech Buyer Survey Spotlight examines how companies across regions and sizes modernize assessment strategies. As AI reshapes hiring, organizations face mounting pressure to validate candidate skills beyond traditional assessment signals. With 89% adopting AI-enabled assessments, this IDC Tech Buyer Survey Spotlight analyzes adoption patterns of best-of-breed tools, full-suite HCM platforms, and custom solutions across APAC, EMEA, and North America, providing critical vendor guidance for governance-ready, agentic assessment capabilities.

Meta 4Q25 Earnings: AI‑Driven Ads and the Push to Agentic Commerce

Wayne Kurtzman, Roger Beharry Lall — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

On its January 28, 2025, earnings call, Meta reported 4Q25 revenue of approximately $59.9 billion, up 24% year over year, with core advertising contributing $58.1 billion and growing at a similar pace. Ad impressions increased 18% and the average price per ad rose 6%, reflecting stronger demand and improved monetization across the family of apps. Earnings per share reached $8.88, surpassing consensus estimates, though consolidated operating margin was compressed as investments in AI infrastructure and Reality Labs outpaced revenue growth.

2026年国内IT市場地域金融機関と地方自治体におけるIT支出動向

Hitoshi Ichimura — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

本調査レポートでは、国内IT市場地域別のIT支出動向を詳細に見ていく。その中でも比較的低い成長率に留まる大都市圏以外の地域（北海道／東北地方、北陸／甲信越地方、中国／四国地方、九州／沖縄地方）において、主要ユーザーである、地域経済を牽引し一定規模のIT支出を行う地域金融機関（地方銀行、第二地方銀行、信用金庫、信用組合など）、地方自治体に焦点を絞り、IT支出動向と今後の展望について分析を行う。また、2025年10月に発足した高市政権による地方創生政策の最新動向とこれらの主要ユーザーのIT支出への影響を併せて分析している。

国内経済は、米国での関税政策の影響に加えて、原材料価格の高騰、人材不足／人件費の高騰を契機としたインフレーションの影響が国内企業に及んでいる。また、2025年に各地域のIT支出を牽引したPC更新需要などが終息した反動もあり、2026年の国内IT市場全体ではプラス成長を維持するものの、多くの地域でIT支出が減速し、大都市圏以外の地域ではマイナス成長を予測する。2027年以降、デジタル化、デジタルビジネス推進を積極的に行う企業が多い大都市圏ではIT支出が堅調に拡大する一方で、大都市圏以外の地域では最低限のIT支出に留まりデジタル化、デジタルビジネス推進に消極的な企業が依然として多いため、IT支出は低い成長率に留まる。このような大都市圏以外の地域のユーザーにおいても、地域金融機関、地方自治体といった地域を担う主要なユーザーに限定した場合、勘定系システム刷新／オープン化、または「デジタル・ガバメント」政策、業務システム標準化などと並行してデジタル化も進めている。さらには、地方創生政策などによる後押しもあり、地域金融機関、地方自治体も地方創生に向けて支援を継続している。

高市政権となり地方創生政策は経済活性化重視にシフトしており、これまでも地方創生政策に従事していた地域金融機関、地方自治体においても影響が及ぶ可能性がある。したがって、IDC Japan、Software, Services, and IT Spendingのシニアリサーチマネージャーである市村仁は、「ITサプライヤーは、高市政権の方針を考慮した上で、地方自治体、地域金融機関がすでに着手する施策と併せて、新たに求められる地方創生施策に関しても支援を行う必要がある」と述べている。

European Small and Medium Business Telecoms Strategies: Research Coverage and Approach

Daniela Rao — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective provides an overview of the markets covered in IDC's European Small and Medium Business Telecoms Strategies research program. It analyzes various aspects of the European SMB (1–249 employees) market, such as connections and spending, as well as new noncore telecom services that are becoming a relevant part of several telco portfolios.

"To successfully address small and medium-sized businesses' diversity and fragmentation requires European telco to refocus their strategies and tactical actions," said Daniela Rao, senior research and consulting director, Telecom & UCC Global Research Team. "The IDC European Small and Medium Business Telecom CIS is aimed at supporting telecom players in the evolution toward digital services providers, by identifying future business models and strategies, as well as leveraging insights data and information from reliable sources."

Verizon 4Q25 and FY25 Earnings: Strong End to 2025 and Positive Outlook for 2026

Courtney Munroe — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

On January 30, 2026, Verizon announced its 4Q25 and FY25 earnings results. The company reported total operating revenue of $36.4 billion for 4Q25, a 2% YoY growth compared with 4Q24. Total 2025 revenue was $138.2 billion, representing a 2.5% YoY growth compared with FY24. Verizon reported earnings per share (EPS) of $4.06 and adjusted EPS of $4.71. FY25 cash flow from operations was $37.1 billion, and free cash flow was $20.1 billion, both showing slight increases from the previous year. Consolidated net income for 2025 was $17.6 billion, with adjusted EBITDA at $50.0 billion. In 4Q25, Verizon achieved EPS of $0.55 and adjusted EPS of $1.09.

SMB Communications Services Survey, 2025: Bundled Services

Jason Blackwell — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey provides a summary of results from IDC's SMB Communications Services Survey, an online survey of United States–based small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) fielded in September 2025. This portion of the survey explores key issues related to bundled services adoption and implementation by businesses with 1–499 employees.

The SMB AI Adoption Journey, Part 2: Top Current and Future Use Cases

Elisabeth Clemmons, Katie Evans — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey presentation looks at SMBs' top current and future use cases for AI and automation. It also provides an overview in terms of employee size, region, digital transformation journey, and vertical. This presentation draws from IDC's February 2025 Worldwide Small and Medium-Sized Business Survey.

The SMB Merger and Acquisition Landscape: Motivations, Priorities, and Challenges for SMBs and Digital-Native Start-Ups

Elisabeth Clemmons, Nupur Singh Andley, Katie Evans — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Presentation examines the merger and acquisition landscape, specifically as it pertains to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and digital-native businesses (DNBs). It looks at how SMBs use M&A as a strategy, breaking it down by employee size, region, and vertical. It also examines trends and best practices, drawing upon two case study interviews conducted by IDC researchers as well as data from PitchBook and IDC's 2025 Worldwide Small and Medium Business Survey.

Salesforce's Free Suite for SMBs: Market Positioning and Practical Implications

Roger Beharry Lall — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Note provides an overview of Salesforce's Free Suite, launched in November 2025, that marks a strategic pivot toward small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) by offering a no-cost CRM tier with two user licenses and essential sales, service, and marketing features. While the Free Suite lowers entry barriers and introduces SMBs to Salesforce's robust enterprise-grade infrastructure, it carries significant limitations — minimal customization, restricted automation, and capped marketing capabilities — that constrain its utility for growing teams. Implementation remains more complex and costly compared with SMB-focused competitors, with data migration and setup presenting notable friction points.

Despite these constraints, the Free Suite provides a credible entry path for small teams needing structured CRM without up-front investment, leveraging Salesforce's unified data model and scalability. However, its limited functionality means organizations will quickly outgrow the free tier (supporting Salesforce's conversion-oriented needs). Competing free CRM offerings, such as HubSpot and Zoho, deliver broader features and easier onboarding, challenging Salesforce's value proposition for teams prioritizing speed and simplicity. Ultimately, the Free Suite serves as an onboarding tool, and its success will depend on Salesforce's ability to demonstrate upgrade value and ease the transition to paid tiers.