Ad tech rebuilt itself around identity resolution and clean rooms once third-party cookies disappeared. Coverage here spans SSAI, programmatic CTV, ad-supported tier economics, frequency capping, and the measurement approaches replacing the old playbook.
A weekly industry report highlights that ad-supported tiers now account for 54% of North American SVOD revenue, while RTL Group has achieved streaming profitability. Additionally, the report notes a rare rebound in linear TV viewership in New Zealand and significant growth in the microdrama app category.
AdImpact projects that political advertising spend on Connected TV will reach $2.7 billion during the 2026 U.S. midterm election cycle. The report highlights how campaigns are increasingly utilizing first-party data, ACR-driven targeting, and premium streaming environments to manage reach and frequency across fragmented media.
Social video advertising spend has surpassed connected TV (CTV) as mobile platforms leverage superior personalization algorithms and user data. Industry analysts note that CTV's growth is hindered by fragmented operating systems and limited hardware compute power, prompting major media companies to experiment with vertical, short-form content feeds.
Stingr is launching a second-screen interaction platform at IBC2026 that uses smartphone camera recognition to identify content without QR codes. The technology enables broadcasters to integrate shoppable ads, sponsored content, and synchronized accessibility features directly into their own applications.
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) is calling for a unified industry framework and independent third-party accreditation to standardize retail media measurement. The initiative aims to address transparency concerns and inconsistent reporting methodologies across retail media networks as spending in the sector continues to grow.
Former CivicScience executive Doug Lauretano has launched Tuple, a new demand-side platform (DSP) that aims to reduce programmatic noise by limiting integrations to a small number of trusted supply-side platforms (SSPs). The platform seeks to bypass traditional query-per-second throttling and black-box AI models to provide buyers with greater transparency into inventory.
NBC News has entered an exclusive partnership with Taboola to manage all programmatic display advertising across its digital properties, including NBCNews.com and TODAY.com. This deal consolidates NBC News' automated ad sales under Taboola's Realize platform, allowing the publisher's internal team to focus on premium video inventory.
FouAnalytics has launched a new suite for publishers designed to verify human audience quality and provide protection against ad revenue clawbacks. The platform includes a decisioning container that filters invalid traffic and AI crawlers before ad calls are executed to maintain inventory integrity.
An IAB Australia report indicates that 82% of agencies now integrate programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) into cross-channel media planning, often alongside connected TV and digital video. The industry is shifting its focus from basic adoption to demanding standardized metrics, proof of ROI, and greater transparency in inventory quality.
The Maryland Tax Court has invalidated a 2021 law that imposed taxes on digital advertising revenue, ruling it violates the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act and the First Amendment. The court ordered the state to provide refunds to companies including Google, Peacock, and Apple, citing discriminatory exemptions for certain news and broadcast entities.
A survey of 630 brand marketers by Marketing Week indicates that only 33.9% find streaming TV effectiveness easy to measure, compared to 77.7% for social media. This measurement gap is a primary driver for budget allocation, with 71.7% of respondents prioritizing channels with clearer ROI and performance metrics.
Nielsen data indicates that linear TV still commands 80% of U.S. ad viewing time, creating a significant revenue gap for independent digital ad platforms. The article argues that these platforms must develop linear TV ad-buying capabilities to remain competitive against walled gardens like Amazon and Google.
The US programmatic CTV market faces significant revenue loss due to fragmented supply chains and inconsistent content-object signals. Industry experts advocate for standardized measurement frameworks and vector-based intelligence to improve targeting precision and reduce ad waste.
A Kantar study of 15,000 sponsored creator posts reveals that platform engagement metrics correlate with brand-building potential in only one-third of cases. The report highlights that while creator content impact on brand KPIs has grown 77% since 2022, marketers must prioritize specific branding devices over engagement-only metrics to drive business outcomes.
Research from AppHarbr indicates that malicious ad exposure in non-gaming apps doubled between May and July 2026, with native and banner formats accounting for 96% of safety risks. The report advises app developers to incorporate ad safety metrics into their performance evaluations to mitigate user churn and session disruption.
Criteo has integrated 2,000 advertisers into OpenAI’s platform, utilizing Model Context Protocols to bridge brand awareness and performance marketing. The company reports that 80% of traffic driven to retail partners through these AI-driven conversations is new to the brand.
Priorities USA has launched a $30 million digital media program called Prologue that utilizes search and behavioral data from platforms like Google, TikTok, and YouTube to target swing voters. The initiative employs AI-driven insights to deploy contextually relevant political advertising across streaming and social video services.
This article provides a framework for calculating and managing effective ad frequency to optimize campaign performance and mitigate ad fatigue. It outlines specific formulas, benchmarks, and operational strategies for advertisers to balance reach and engagement across major digital platforms.
A report from tvScientific and Pinterest indicates that 54% of U.S. marketers are shifting holiday budgets toward performance-based connected TV advertising. The findings highlight a trend toward earlier campaign launches and the increasing integration of AI for creative development and audience targeting to drive measurable business outcomes.
uBlock Origin is reportedly ending efforts to block Facebook ads due to Meta's frequent modifications to its ad delivery infrastructure. This development highlights the ongoing technical arms race between platforms and ad-blocking tools, raising concerns about the prevalence of fraudulent and malicious content within ad-supported feeds.
Global digital ad fraud reached $63 billion in 2025 as non-human traffic rose to 53%. Consequently, advertisers are increasingly shifting budgets toward out-of-home (OOH) advertising, which saw record revenue of $2.12 billion in Q1 2026.
WunderKIND is expanding its behaviorally triggered ad formats into connected TV, reporting significant performance gains for clients like Ulta Beauty. The company is positioning its data-layer technology to address industry fragmentation as retail media networks move toward greater interoperability with platforms like DV360.
This article provides a comprehensive technical overview of mid-roll advertising standards, including VMAP, VAST, and OpenRTB 2.6 podding specifications. It details how major platforms like YouTube are shifting toward automated, natural break placements to improve viewer satisfaction and revenue, while highlighting ongoing challenges in impression measurement for server-guided ad insertion.
OpenAI has transitioned its ChatGPT advertising pilot into a full self-serve platform, enabling sponsored cards for Free and Go tier users. The system utilizes a contextual auction model that separates ad delivery from the model's organic responses, with specific exclusions for the European Union and paid subscription tiers.
Basis has integrated Barometer’s AI-powered contextual engine to enable pre-bid, episode-level brand suitability controls for podcast advertising. This integration allows advertisers to apply granular risk categories and contextual classification directly within the Basis platform to improve ad placement precision.
This article outlines technical methods for identifying ad-blocking software, including DOM inspection, request monitoring, and canvas fingerprinting. It discusses how publishers utilize these detection techniques to implement soft notifications, access restrictions, or alternative revenue strategies to mitigate the impact of ad-blocking on digital revenue.
Executives from Hearst Television, Dentsu, and Scripps discussed how AI is automating labor-intensive media planning and ad-buying tasks, enabling faster algorithmic forecasting and dynamic pricing. The panel emphasized that while AI provides operational efficiency, human oversight remains necessary for strategic decision-making and preventing cognitive decline in media professionals.
Executives from NBCUniversal, Publicis, Hearst, and Scripps will participate in a panel at NAB Show New York to discuss strategies for addressing inefficiencies in local television advertising. The discussion will focus on optimizing programmatic and addressable sales across linear, streaming, and digital platforms to maintain revenue growth.
Major brands are increasingly launching in-house production studios to create premium entertainment as traditional TV advertising effectiveness declines. This shift impacts production workflows and media strategy as brands move beyond 30-second spots to create long-form content for streaming and social platforms.
Viant reported Q2 revenue growth while emphasizing its proprietary data strategy via acquisitions like IRIS.TV and TVision. The broader ad tech market is undergoing significant consolidation as firms shift away from the traditional role of neutral intermediaries.
A survey of 250 advertising professionals by On Device indicates that 80% of marketers struggle to explain campaign outcomes due to a reliance on delivery metrics rather than meaningful insight. The findings suggest that while brand lift measurement improves confidence, many marketers remain uncertain about the impact of AI tools on statistical accuracy and measurement quality.
PayPal Ads is leveraging its transaction data from 400 million consumers to improve attribution and ad personalization via AI. The company focuses on using real purchase data to shorten the cycle between consumer intent and conversion while maintaining human oversight in its AI-driven workflows.
Smartly has acquired measurement firm INCRMNTAL to integrate real-time causal signals directly into its creative and media optimization platform. The discussion highlights the broader industry shift toward AI-driven intelligence and consolidation within the advertising technology stack.
A recent IAB report reveals that trust in programmatic video transparency is below 60%, largely due to visibility gaps caused by AI-driven decisioning. Industry bodies, including the MRC and IAB Tech Lab, are advocating for standardized reporting and accountability frameworks to help buyers and publishers understand automated auction outcomes.
The IAB Tech Lab has finalized version 1.0 of the Agentic Real Time Framework (ARTF), a standard for deploying secure, containerized AI agents within the OpenRTB bidstream. The framework enables programmatic actors to perform tasks like fraud detection and bid modification on host infrastructure without exposing sensitive data.
AppLovin is diversifying its advertising platform by expanding from mobile gaming into ecommerce and consumer brand segments. The company is positioning its AI-driven algorithmic platform as an alternative to the major tech duopolies, citing advanced measurement tools and high-touch account service as key differentiators.
Viant reported $104.3 million in Q2 revenue and signaled an intent to pursue further M&A to secure proprietary data sources. The report highlights a broader industry trend of ad-tech firms moving away from neutrality by integrating measurement and activation tools, exemplified by recent deals like Nielsen's acquisition of DoubleVerify.
Liftoff reported $220 million in Q2 revenue, marking a 35% year-over-year increase during its first earnings call as a public company. CEO Jeremy Bondy highlighted that over half of the platform's demand now originates from non-gaming verticals, supported by the company's Cortex AI optimization engine.
Cineverse has launched VAUDIO, an ad tech tool designed to convert existing podcast and radio commercials into visual ads for CTV environments without requiring new video production. The company targets $12 million in annual revenue from the tool by the end of its fiscal year, leveraging its existing IndiCue and Matchpoint infrastructure.
PQ Media projects that U.S. midterm political ad spending for 2026 will reach $15.3 billion, surpassing the 2024 presidential cycle expenditure of $15.0 billion. The research identifies a shift toward biennial growth in political media spend driven by increased party contentiousness and the removal of limitations on dark money funding.
Connected TV software vendor Hoppr is deploying its HopprTV+ audience measurement and advertising software on TIMVision devices in Italy. The integration, managed by Communication Video Engineering, aims to collect viewing behavior data across TIMVision's third-party streaming services for content personalization and ad monetization purposes.
Nexxen has promoted Chance Johnson to President to lead the unification of its demand-side and supply-side platforms, supported by a common data layer. The leadership change is accompanied by the appointments of Kara Puccinelli as CCO and Kenneth Suh as CBO, signaling a strategic shift toward improved programmatic CTV advertising transparency.
Executives from Hearst Television, Dentsu, and Scripps discussed the role of AI in automating media planning and buying workflows. Panelists emphasized that while AI significantly reduces manual labor and improves algorithmic forecasting and yield optimization, human oversight remains essential for strategic decision-making.
iGaming operators are leveraging smart TV operating systems like Tizen, webOS, and Titan OS to deliver interactive, geo-targeted ads within FAST channels. This approach uses rich media overlays and QR codes to bridge linear television viewing with mobile conversion while maintaining regional regulatory compliance.
This article discusses the integration challenges in advertising technology stacks, arguing that the lack of a centralized orchestration layer creates an integration tax for composable systems. The author proposes that implementing robust data mapping and workflow logic, potentially augmented by AI, is essential for achieving true interoperability and operational efficiency.
Roku is expanding its advertising partnerships by integrating its first-party identity signals with Amazon DSP, Google Display & Video 360, and The Trade Desk. These integrations allow advertisers to manage cross-platform frequency and improve measurement accuracy across the Roku OS without relying on IP addresses.
DoorDash is expanding its commerce media advertising platform by integrating AI-driven automated bidding and enhanced performance controls for brands. The company aims to leverage purchase intent and behavioral data across its 56 million monthly active users to support targeted advertising campaigns.
Culture Hive Media has integrated its Cultural Relevance Score into Magnite’s ClearLine platform to allow advertisers to target audiences based on cultural signals instead of traditional demographics. The system is designed to improve programmatic ad performance and flag potentially offensive or stereotypical creative content.
NBCUniversal is launching a self-serve Performance Insights Hub to provide advertisers with real-time streaming campaign data and is expanding programmatic access to live sports inventory. The initiative, discussed in an interview with NBCU executive Kristina Shepard, focuses on improving measurement capabilities and accessibility for small and medium-sized brands on Peacock.
Salesforce and Dentsu have launched Identity Boost, an integration that brings third-party identity data into Salesforce Data Cloud for addressable advertising. The solution aims to improve audience match rates and expand clean room utility by enriching first-party data without requiring third-party data custody.
James Varndell · Bitmovin
