Spurred on by a rise in bus fares and the government’s focus on lavish new stadiums over the needs of the poor, thousands of Brazilian citizens have gathered to protest in the country’s largest cities. In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, tens of thousands of people assembled outside government buildings. Protesters set fire to the state capitol building in São Paulo and were met by riot police who fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

With the Confederations Cup already underway in the country, and the 2014 World cup set kickoff in only one year, the protests come at a high profile moment for Brazil. The new Estadio Nacional de Brasilia was inaugurated just one month ago in the nation’s capitol. The stadium, which seats over 71,000, cost more than $700 million to build and is one of the largest and costliest stadiums ever built in the country. Overall, Brazil is spending $3.3 billion on stadium construction and renovation, and roughly $14 billion total on World Cup projects.

Global ad spend will grow only 2.8% this year, according to market research firm eMarketer, down from 4.4% growth in 2012. Despite slower growth, total spending will reach nearly $517 billion by the end of the year. EMarketer projects that growth will increase to 4.9% next year, thanks in large part to ad spend surrounding the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In fact, total ad spending in Brazil is expected to increase by 9% this year and as much as 12% next year.

Earlier this week, eBay announced that it is leading a $50 million investment in the Indian eCommerce website Snapdeal. The deal includes a multi-year commercial partnership, a significant equity stake for eBay, and access to Snapdeal’s 20 million registered users and large distribution network. Last year, Snapdeal boasted sales of about $100 million. The company expects this figure to rise to $400 million this year. According to the Internet & Mobile Association of India, the Indian eCommerce market market is expected to grow from $1.2 billion in 2012 to $1.8 billion in 2013, a 50% increase. As Internet use in the country continues to accelerate, so too will the growth of an already large online shopping market.

Yesterday, Mary Meeker released her annual presentation on global Internet trends. The report highlights some intriguing figures on Internet user growth, social media and mobile trends, and the increasing significance of emerging markets in global technology. Meeker begins her presentation with a breakdown of global Internet user growth. Of the top 15 countries ranked by number of new Internet users over the last four years, 14 are emerging markets. The U.S., at number 10, is the only developed nation on the list. China alone added more new Internet users, 264 million from 2008-2012, than there are existing users in the U.S. today. Emerging market consumers are quickly becoming the majority of people on the web.

According to a recent report published by S&P Capital IQ Equity Research, global advertising spend is expected accelerate over the next few months, driven in large part by emerging markets. Over the next 10 to 15 years, emerging markets are estimated to add $200 billion of advertising spending to the global market. A significant portion of this growth will come from the three of the developing worlds larger markets: Brazil, Russia, and China. Over the next three years, these three countries will account for 29% of global advertising growth.