Nontraditional players are now becoming ad platforms, Hope and Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer write.

Why it matters: In the past, ads have been sold and shown mainly through media channels (think TV and radio), now they're coming through everywhere, from networking apps to grocers.

• Smartphones, e-commerce sites and connected devices — including smart TVs in hotel rooms and tablets in cars and at airports — have made it possible for businesses of all kinds to sell advertising space and target customers.

Driving the news: Uber on Wednesday said it plans to start putting ads in its ride-hailing app — a huge step for the company that, to date, has been largely limited to serving ads to its Uber Eats delivery app.

• The expansion comes on the heels of the recently announced merger between Kroger and Albertsons, which could create one of the biggest digital marketing businesses.
• Following in the footsteps of Alibaba and Amazon, most major retailers, including Walmart, Target, Macy's, Home Depot, CVS and Dick's, have all built ad-sales businesses over the past few years.

What they're saying: Selling ads is a valuable strategy for companies "of all sizes" not only because of the extra profits it provides, but also because of the customer data it yields, authors of a recent BCG study write.

• The market for ads sold through commerce platforms will generate nearly $75 billion in profits in 2026, they say.
• At the same time, data helps improve the relationship that companies have with their customers.

The bottom line: Any glimpse at a screen is now an opportunity for a company to show an ad.

Read the full story... Everyone wants to sell your attention

Tesla narrowly missed revenue expectations for its third quarter, sending shares down nearly 6% after hours today, Hope writes.

• Tesla reported $21.45 billion in quarterly revenue versus the $21.98 million that Wall Street expected.

The big picture: Investors have grown concerned about demand for new Tesla vehicles — as indicated by shrinking wait times and the company raising prices to cover its own increased costs.

🔋 BMW plans to invest $1.7 billion in the U.S. in EV push. (CNBC)

💵 Bed Bath & Beyond's debt exchange is just a first step. (Axios)

🛑 Wisconsin group asks SCOTUS to block student loan forgiveness plan. (Axios)

Thanksgiving will be a lot quieter in shopping malls across the country as stores close for the holiday, Hope writes.

Driving the news: Walmart, Best Buy, Kohl's and Target will all be closed again on Thanksgiving — a trend that began during the pandemic.

• "Thanksgiving store hours are one thing we won’t ‘get back to’ when the pandemic finally subsides,” Target CEO Brian Cornell said last year.

The big picture: Retailers started holiday sales a lot earlier this year to shed inventory and to get ahead of consumer worries about price hikes.

• Instead of a single sale the week of Thanksgiving, Walmart said it is bringing back its "Black Friday Deals for Days" event for the third year, with three sales online and in stores, Axios' Kelly Tyko reports.

Go deeper: Say goodbye to the traditional holiday shopping season

It's not just you — workers are drowning in apps in order to do their jobs, Hope writes.

• Why it matters: Tech overload forces people to switch gears countless times during the day and can contribute to worker burnout.

State of play: Companies with more than 2,000 people unleash an average of 187 apps on their workforce (Zoom, Slack, Notion, Airtable, Monday.com, DocuSign, etc.), a report from cloud software platform Okta found.

• Companies with fewer than 2,000 people average 72.

The big picture: Workers are toggling from app to app, website to website, nearly 1,200 times a day — or 9% of their annual time at work, according to research published in the Harvard Business Review.

💭 Hope's thought bubble: It's not like pen and paper were better. But I think it's good to be aware of what's getting under our (my) skin.

"I have f---ing killed it. I knocked the cover off the ball in the financial world."