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.
Nine will launch an advertising-supported tier, "Basic with Ads," for its Stan streaming service later this year, priced at $9.99 per month with HD streaming. This initiative expands Stan's commercial offering beyond Stan Sport, allowing advertisers to utilize Nine's first-party data and audience intelligence across its integrated media portfolio. The new tier aims to broaden access to Stan and support continued investment in premium content.
Code-level findings suggest Apple may be developing an ad-supported tier for Apple Music. This potential move would represent a departure from Apple's current subscription-only model for the service. An ad-supported tier would position Apple Music to compete with other streaming platforms offering similar monetization strategies.
Indian companies are reducing ad spending as elevated crude prices and geopolitical tensions lead to cautious consumer sentiment and increased input costs. This trend is accelerating a shift towards digital media, performance marketing, and ROI-focused campaigns, with Connected TV (CTV) advertising projected to double by 2026 in India.
Connected TV transforms sports media into a lucrative digital advertising ecosystem, enabling programmatic advertising to tailor messages during live events. This shift is turning sports into a key testing ground for the future of television monetization and audience engagement. The article emphasizes how accuracy in ad targeting helps justify the high costs of sports inventory and attracts new advertiser categories.
Magnite reported Q1 earnings that exceeded revenue and adjusted EBITDA forecasts, driven by strong performance in connected TV (CTV) and increased adoption of AI across its advertising platform. The company's stock is currently trading at a discount compared to analyst targets, suggesting potential opportunity before Q1 momentum and AI updates are fully weighed. This highlights the growing financial impact of CTV and AI in advertising for streaming professionals.
A new Antenna report indicates that ad-supported SVOD subscriptions have reached 110 million in the U.S., making up 48% of the market. Ad-supported tiers were responsible for 59% of gross additions in Q1, highlighting them as the primary growth driver for streaming platforms. The report suggests that platforms are successfully encouraging users towards these tiers.
Pubstack announced a free live webinar on June 16th titled "Why Buyers Ignore Most Publisher Inventory: The Hidden Impact of SSP Throttling" to discuss how SSP throttling causes revenue loss for publishers. The session will cover why high-value inventory is eliminated before reaching the auction and practical solutions around supply-side signals and shaping. Loïc Sfiligoï (co-founder and CSO) and Federico Benincasa (CPO) will lead the 45-minute discussion.
A Redseer report indicates that AI is significantly transforming the global advertising industry, with India positioned to become a major AdTech hub. India's digital ad market is projected to grow to $33-42 billion by 2030, driven by AI-led innovation in areas like media buying, creative production, and targeting. Indian AdTech firms are evolving into global product companies, leveraging AI to rebuild advertising infrastructure.
OTT platforms are increasingly adopting contextual advertising strategies to better align ad messages with viewer emotions and content genres. This shift is reportedly enhancing ad effectiveness, with VDO.AI data showing click-through rate improvements of up to 55%. As ad-supported tiers evolve, these smarter strategies are transforming them into more significant revenue generators.
Midterm political ad spending for 2026 has reached $3.9 billion through May 29, representing a 47% increase compared to 2022, primarily driven by California's spending of $315.8 million. Projections indicate $2.5 billion of the total political ad spend will go to connected TV (CTV), with approximately 70% of overall political ad expenditure directed towards TV and streaming/CTV platforms.
Nestlé Philippines, in collaboration with WPP Media and Magnite, achieved an 11% brand awareness uplift and 97% brand consideration for Nescafé Sugar Free using programmatic video ads targeting streaming platforms like WeTV and Spotify. The campaign leveraged genre-targeted pause ads and audience data from Lotame to precisely reach health-conscious consumers in a fragmented media landscape. This case study highlights the successful application of ad tech innovation for brand uplift and sales growth in Southeast Asia.
Research by Gameloft for Brands indicates that in-game video advertising significantly outperforms YouTube pre-roll ads in brand recall and sustained attention. The study, combining eye-tracking and emotional response measurements, found in-game ads resulted in 25% higher brand recall and 18.1% more sustained attention. These findings suggest new opportunities for advertisers to achieve greater engagement and purchase intent within gaming environments.
FreeWheel and Outernet have partnered to deliver CTV out-of-home advertising campaigns on Outernet's large screens in London. Outernet will use FreeWheel's SSP and its proprietary PIAMS system to monetize its premium inventory and provide real-time behavioral data to brands. This collaboration aims to provide new ways for brands to reach audiences and reflects a broader trend in converged TV strategies for out-of-home advertising.
Frequency has launched its new In-Scene Advertising solution, which allows broadcasters and streaming services to embed ads directly into video content using AI. This technology identifies natural placement opportunities within scenes and dynamically replaces them with targeted advertising. The offering aims to provide new monetization avenues beyond traditional commercial breaks.
A guide from REPLUG explores how mobile app marketers are now allocating 20-40% of their budgets to "open internet" channels for user acquisition, moving beyond traditional platforms like Meta and Google. The guide focuses on diversified and resilient acquisition strategies, including OEM advertising, DSPs, rewarded user acquisition, and CTV. It aims to help mobile-first apps optimize their channel mix, measure quality, and scale user acquisition effectively.
WunderKIND Ads is promoting non-interruptive Connected TV (CTV) ad units, such as pause ads, with the goal of enabling programmatic buying across various OEMs. Industry professionals from Digitas, Yahoo, and Dentsu discuss the evolution of CTV advertising, including shoppable ads, high-impact units, and the integration of CTV into the retail media ecosystem. This article is the first in a series titled “A Kinder, Gentler CTV.”
Nielsen and Marketing Architects have expanded their partnership to integrate Nielsen’s Media Data Engine with Marketing Architects' Annika platform for national TV measurement. This collaboration aims to deliver faster and more detailed viewership data to advertisers for national linear TV buys, particularly around live events and premium inventory. The goal is to improve campaign planning and analysis by addressing the historical data lag in television advertising.
The article discusses how online misinformation, including AI-generated fake news, is driven by profit-seeking actors leveraging social media algorithms for monetization. This market dynamic leads to significant ad revenue for platforms and challenges for content moderation. Experts argue for better regulation of the digital advertising market, such as 'Know Your Customer' regulations, to prevent legitimate brands from inadvertently funding disinformation.
Magnite is enabling programmatic access for advertisers to premium live streaming inventory in Australia, including major sports and broadcast events across multiple streaming platforms. This initiative provides greater flexibility for brands to reach engaged audiences and complements traditional sponsorship deals by scaling campaigns across various live environments. The company also introduced Live Scheduler to coordinate programmatic campaigns around live programming efficiently.
Ampersand, Fandango, and Kochava have partnered to create a closed-loop TV-to-ticket sales solution for theatrical marketing. This new solution allows film studios to plan, activate, and measure TV advertising campaigns directly against verified ticket sales, utilizing precision audience creation and attribution.
FreeWheel and Outernet have partnered to enable CTV out-of-home advertising campaigns on Outernet's large digital screens in London. Outernet will utilize FreeWheel's SSP to monetize its digital out-of-home (DOOH) inventory, offering brands access to an audience of 120 million annual visitors. The collaboration aims to bring programmatic precision to this inventory, with plans to expand into a broader programmatic offering.
TripleLift published an article marketing advertising opportunities for Summer Prime Day across CTV, video, and display platforms. It highlights data points from TruAudience and Transunion, noting a 99% Video Completion Rate and a 115% traffic increase during the sales event.
Global, a UK media and entertainment group, announced its direct entry into premium video advertising sales across its YouTube content network, which reaches 16 million subscribers and 150 million monthly views in the UK. This move allows advertisers to buy spot advertising directly within Global's YouTube shows, bypassing programmatic auction-based sales, and positions Global as the only UK media owner offering audio, outdoor, and premium YouTube video in a single commercial relationship. The company also created a dedicated Video Sales team led by Fatima Dowlet.
StreamGuys has launched a new AI-powered ad tagging service designed to automatically identify and place ad markers in podcasts and on-demand audio content, including archival libraries. This enables content producers to monetize existing audio libraries and automates the identification of ad insertion points. The service supports content ingestion from various sources and returns ad marker data compatible with a wide range of hosting and publishing systems.
TESTA conducted real-world testing of Brazilian sportsbooks, including Bet365, Betano, Betsson, and EstrelaBet, across the PIX payment ecosystem to assess their readiness for the 2026 World Cup. The testing identified challenges in withdrawal speeds, verification processes, and overall operational user experience that can impact player satisfaction, with Betano showing the fastest average withdrawal times.
European National Olympic Committees (NOCs), including Germany's DOSB and the British Olympic Association (BOA), are shifting their sponsorship strategies for events like Istanbul 2027 to focus on year-round athlete storytelling and digital activations. This move aims to provide partners with continuous relevance beyond the Games window and involves increased in-house content production and social media engagement. The European Games are positioned as a key opportunity for this new commercial approach and Olympic qualification.
MediaRadar announced an expansion of its Connected TV (CTV) intelligence, adding AVOD coverage for The Roku Channel and YouTube, and integrating live sports data. This enhancement provides clients with improved visibility into advertiser activity across on-demand and live streaming environments, including local AVOD granularity across 210 DMAs. The expansion is part of MediaRadar's "Video Everywhere" initiative, aiming to offer a unified view of advertising strategy across the modern media marketplace.
Keynes, a performance CTV technology company, has launched Kortex, an AI-powered platform for planning, buying, and measuring CTV campaigns. Kortex unifies fragmented marketing data from various sources to provide real-time insights and optimization recommendations for marketers. The platform aims to bring transparency and accountability to CTV ad spend.
Nine announced that its streaming service, Stan, will launch an ad-supported tier called "Basic with Ads" for $9.99/month later this year. This expansion aims to broaden Stan's reach and provide advertisers with more opportunities to engage audiences across Nine's media portfolio, utilizing first-party data for integrated campaigns. The new tier will feature a light ad load to maintain a premium viewing experience while supporting continued investment in content.
Disney is making advertising a core revenue driver by focusing on ad-supported streaming, live sports, and enhanced ad technology. This strategy aims to combine its portfolio for advertisers, growing digital ad revenue faster than linear TV declines. Projections anticipate continued growth in Disney+ U.S. digital ad revenue through 2028, with advertising becoming a larger share of the platform’s total income mix.
Keynes has launched Kortex, an agentic AI platform designed to provide granular transparency and real-time optimization for CTV advertising campaigns. The platform utilizes task-specific AI agents to analyze cross-platform data from sources such as Shopify and Google Analytics, helping brands like Tuckernuck refine audience segmentation and creative assets. Kortex aims to enhance understanding of CTV ad performance by offering detailed visualizations and insights into campaign effectiveness across different devices, times, and regional contexts.
TripleLift identifies a $25 billion online sales opportunity for advertisers during Cyber Week across CTV, native, and video formats. The company projects approximately 63% of consumer spend during this period will occur via mobile devices, according to data from Transunion.
Fluent Inc. has launched Trevant, a creator marketing agency built from its AdParlor subsidiary, aiming to provide creator programs that drive revenue and offer advanced measurement for mid-to-large brands. Trevant offers end-to-end program management, paid amplification, and infrastructure to connect creator content with conversion data. The agency boasts a network of over 5,500 creators and serves clients including QVC, HSN, and Norwegian Cruise Line.
TNT Sports chose to put the UEFA Champions League final behind a paywall to drive HBO Max subscriptions, resulting in seven million legal viewers in the UK and 16.2 million illegal streams. This decision by Warner Bros. Discovery to maximize short-term revenue highlighted the tension between subscription growth and increased piracy, impacting the long-term valuation of sports rights for UEFA.
Genius Sports' biometric research with MediaScience indicates that ads shown after high-intensity sports moments can double unaided brand recall, suggesting enhanced effectiveness for live sports streaming advertising. This research highlights a new approach to ad timing that could significantly impact how advertisers target viewers in CTV sports environments. The article frames this research within a valuation check of Genius Sports itself.
Teads has integrated its Audience Planning API into Havas Media Network’s Converged.AI platform, allowing direct audience activation within agency workflows. This collaboration aims to streamline the process of translating audience strategy into execution across Teads' network, reaching over 2.5 billion consumers cookielessly. The integration is designed to ensure consistency across channels and maximize match rates, and is now live in multiple key markets including the US and major European countries.
Peer39, a contextual data platform, acquired Adloox from Scope3 to enhance its ad verification and measurement capabilities, particularly within Meta and Google's walled gardens. This acquisition provides Peer39 with MRC accreditation and aims to expand its brand suitability offerings to better compete with industry leaders in verifying media quality and outcomes across programmatic advertising.
Wurl research indicates that brand safety risks in CTV news are concentrated and predictable, suggesting a more targeted advertising approach. Separately, Ofcom found that video podcasts linked to TV shows improve the UK viewing experience for over half of weekly podcast listeners. Additionally, Ampere Analysis highlighted that the average gap between seasons for streaming originals has nearly doubled, potentially increasing subscriber churn.
Google has integrated its Demand Gen campaign type into the Commerce Media Suite, allowing brands to leverage retailer first-party audience and catalog data across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail for ad placements. This expansion provides closed-loop reporting for ad exposure linked to retailer purchase outcomes, extending retailers' ad reach beyond their owned platforms. The move aligns with the industry trend of off-site retail media activation.
Billions Network CEO Evin McMullen warns that AI agents pose an existential threat to the display advertising models of major tech companies like Google and Facebook, as these agents do not respond to visual ads. This disruption could lead to a collapse of primary revenue streams for media and telecommunications conglomerates. Billions Network is positioned as a key on-chain infrastructure provider for accountable AI agents, with its cryptographic tools used by various corporate and sovereign developers.
EDO CEO Kevin Krim highlighted at POSSIBLE 2026 that TV serves as both a brand and demand medium, driving mid-funnel actions like searches and web visits after ad exposure, particularly during live sports. EDO uses AI, including its ChatEDO interface, to optimize ad creative production and provide real-time performance data to agencies for Upfront planning. This approach aims to shift the industry from basic share-of-voice metrics to optimization and ROI.
Amazon is reportedly engaging external advertising agencies to sell ad inventory across its growing media properties, including Prime Video. This strategic move aims to scale Amazon's advertising business and increase its competitiveness within the connected TV (CTV) ad market.
The article highlights Passes.com, a creator platform emphasizing subscription models over brand deals, offering a 90/10 revenue split and seven monetization streams, including native DRM. It contrasts this with other platforms like OnlyFans and Patreon, touting Passes.com as the best platform for creator subscriptions in 2026 due to its features and revenue share. The platform aims to provide creators with stable, recurring income and tools for audience management.
Ampersand has partnered with Fandango and Kochava to launch a theatrical advertising solution designed to link deterministic TV exposure to verified movie ticket sales. This closed-loop system allows studios to target high-intent moviegoers across 62 million households, leveraging Fandango's transaction data and Kochava's attribution tools. The collaboration aims to provide studios with clear, actionable insights into campaign performance and maximize box office impact.
Google is integrating AI across its marketing workflow, including Gemini-powered ad experiences and agentic commerce, indicating a central role for AI in future ad operations. OpenAI is expanding its ad stack within ChatGPT, rolling out CPA buying and ads for advertisers, pushing it towards a performance marketing platform. Netflix unveiled a new "Binge Ads" format at its Upfront, allowing sequential storytelling across episodes in a single viewing session to leverage viewing data for brands.
Google AdSense has introduced a new control that allows publishers to share full IP addresses in programmatic bid requests, a feature previously blocked by default. This restores a crucial signal for geographic, fraud, and business-to-business ad targeting, enabling demand partners to better assess impression quality. While the feature offers enhanced precision, its default setting is restricted, and its utility is constrained by privacy regulations for non-personalized, limited, and restricted data processing ad requests.
Magnite highlights its hybrid infrastructure strategy, combining owned on-premise data centers with cloud elasticity to manage adtech demands. This approach enables the company to efficiently process baseline programmatic advertising volumes while scaling up for unpredictable surges during live CTV events. Magnite states that its $130 million investment in CapEx for on-premise infrastructure underpins this strategy.
The Trade Desk announced a partnership with Utiq to integrate Utiq's telco-powered, consent-based advertising identifiers into the DSP's identity framework across EMEA. This collaboration allows advertisers to reach users not addressable via email-hash-based IDs, improving addressability across the open internet, especially in diverse European markets. The integration also includes netID in Germany, expanding The Trade Desk's portfolio approach to identity.
Peer39 has acquired Adloox from Scope3, integrating Adloox's MRC-accredited ad verification capabilities within Google and Meta's advertising platforms. This move allows Peer39 to extend its contextual intelligence into walled gardens, directly competing with DoubleVerify and IAS. The acquisition also reflects Scope3's strategic pivot towards agentic media buying and AI-driven advertising infrastructure.
AI agents are predicted to fundamentally disrupt the $900 billion advertising industry by autonomously managing campaigns through real-time strategy optimization. This shift, dubbed "agentic advertising," moves beyond current programmatic models to dynamically adjust strategies without direct human intervention. The change threatens traditional ad agencies by automating campaign planning, media buying, and creative execution, necessitating a pivot towards overseeing AI ecosystems.
