Basis report: 99.2% of programmatic CTV spend transacts through PMPs

The massive migration to PMPs has not eliminated supply-chain waste, as premium labels often blend high-quality inventory with lower-tier supply to meet volume commitments. This suggests that the current obsession with transaction format (PMP vs. Open Market) is a distraction from the underlying need for sophisticated supply intelligence that classifies app-level quality before the bid. For the broader ecosystem, this shifts the competitive focus toward DSPs and curation layers that offer transparent, automated pre-bid filtering. Watch for whether advertisers begin moving spend back to a more transparent open market as supply-path validation tools mature.

The shift toward PMPs is occurring against a backdrop of surging sophisticated ad fraud. According to a May 2026 DoubleVerify report, the industry saw a 140% year-over-year increase in CTV fraud schemes in Q1 2026, driven largely by AI-powered bot networks and a tenfold increase in fraudulent apps. Despite these risks, only 21% of advertisers currently use invalid traffic (IVT) as a primary performance KPI, leading to significant financial leakage. DoubleVerify estimates that unprotected campaigns lose approximately $1.8 million per billion impressions served. At the same time, the ANA's May 2026 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark highlights a widening efficiency gap between top and bottom-tier advertisers. High performers are paying an effective 'TrueCPM' of $7.46 per qualified impression, while lower-performing cohorts pay $19.04—a 2.6x difference for the same quality of media. This disparity is driven not by the cost of the media itself, but by the volume of non-measurable and non-viewable impressions absorbed by less diligent buyers. Total U.S. CTV ad spend is projected to reach $38 billion in 2026 per eMarketer, making the mitigation of this waste a multi-billion dollar priority for B2B stakeholders.