Epom maps 7 ad tech shifts reshaping 2026 buying
This article outlines seven ad tech trends for 2026, including the emergence of AI agents in advertising workflows, the shift to first-party data and contextual advertising due to cookie deprecation, and the rising prominence of retail media. It also highlights Connected TV (CTV) as a major battleground for premium advertising, the continued growth and privacy-focused evolution of mobile ad tech, advancements in attribution models, and efforts towards greater transparency and sustainability in the ad tech supply chain.
Key Takeaways
- Agentic AI is moving from assistance to execution, with autonomous campaign agents handling media ops, pacing, and bidding, plus Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) for AI buyer-seller communication.
- Contextual advertising and first-party data are replacing third-party cookies, with data clean rooms, identity portability, and consent-based matching emphasized over reach.
- Retail media is projected to exceed $196 billion in 2026, and RMNs are expanding beyond product listings into video, digital-out-of-home, and off-site ads.
- CTV ad spend is projected to surpass $46 billion by 2026, while 68% of TV viewing already comes from streaming devices.
- Mobile ad tech is being reshaped by Apple’s ATT, SKAN, and Privacy Sandbox, with in-app formats and privacy-first SDKs taking priority.
Why It Matters
The immediate implication is that 2026 planning is shifting toward fewer, higher-quality signals: first-party data, clean rooms, CTV, and privacy-safe mobile measurement. Epom frames this as a broader reset in which AI handles more media operations while humans keep strategy and creative control. That matters across streaming because CTV, video, and mobile are all named as core battlegrounds, and retail media is now a major buying channel too. The clearest signal to watch next is whether AdCP and the newer attribution stack — MMM, clean room measurement, attention metrics, and qCPM — move from theory into standard buying workflows.
Read full article at epom.com
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