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.
Samsung Electronics is hiring a Sales Manager for its ad platform in Toronto, Canada, with an OTE of up to $250,000, indicating a focus on expanding its Smart TV advertising business. The role emphasizes new business development, programmatic expertise, and building relationships with agencies and advertisers to drive revenue. This strategic hire aims to leverage Samsung's first-party TV data for high-quality audience targeting and multi-channel advertising growth.
Magnite reports continued growth in CTV programmatic advertising and expanded partnerships with VIZIO and Walmart to leverage first-party data. The company is investing in agentic AI to automate ad insertion orders, aiming to significantly reduce turnaround times. Magnite also notes a shift towards agencies building their own tech offerings and the increasing importance of commerce media partnerships.
Programmatic CTV advertising is predicted to account for over 90% of CTV ad spending by 2026, driven by the shift of viewership to FAST platforms. This trend leverages DSPs and SSPs to automate ad buying, providing advanced targeting capabilities and addressing measurement challenges for advertisers and streaming platforms. Companies like TACKENDO integrate these technologies to monetize content while optimizing viewer experience.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising buying models are evolving, with most spend still managed directly via insertion orders rather than modern ad servers. New ad technology infrastructure is emerging to unify direct and programmatic DOOH campaigns, enhancing accountability and visibility for advertisers. This shift aims to provide more verifiable delivery metrics and coherent planning across all DOOH demand types.
Rishabh Software offers AdTech software development and consulting services for building custom DSP, SSP, and CTV platforms. They specialize in integrating AI/ML for bid optimization, audience targeting, and real-time performance tracking with low latency. Their services include custom CTV AdServers, OpenRTB integration, SSPs for CTV monetization, and SSAI/DAI integration.
Cloudflare has launched "pay per crawl," an initiative enabling site owners to control and monetize AI crawler access to their content. This solution allows publishers to audit, block, or charge for AI use, aiming to create a more equitable internet by providing tools for fair compensation. The system uses Web Bot Auth, an open standard for cryptographic verification of crawlers, and HTTP 402 responses for payment requests.
Rakuten TV's 'The FAST Advantage' report indicates that 73.7% of European viewers watch FAST daily or weekly, with 80.1% considering it a primary TV viewing method, solidifying FAST as a mainstream behavior. The research highlights growing acceptance of advertising in FAST environments, particularly when relevant, and its role in content discovery and monetizing existing libraries. The report suggests that FAST offers opportunities for content owners to extend reach and engagement through viewer-first programming and ad strategies, emphasizing the importance of balancing broad appeal with local relevance across European markets.
Research from LayerX identified 82 browser extensions, including ad blockers and streaming tools for platforms like Netflix and Hulu, that explicitly sell or share user data. These extensions collect viewing history, content preferences, and streaming behavior which can be monetized by advertisers and analytics firms. The report highlights privacy risks within the growing ad-supported streaming ecosystem as third-party extensions commercialize user viewing habits.
Antenna's new research indicates that ad-supported tiers now constitute 48% of total streaming subscribers, with 78% of new streaming subscribers over the past nine quarters choosing ad tiers. This trend is driven significantly by live programming, especially sports, which attracts a high percentage of "light viewers" for advertisers and offers media companies dual revenue streams. Despite this, the article primarily focuses on ESPN's sports content and executive decisions, rather than specific ad-tech vendors.
Amazon India will introduce advertisements on its bundled Prime Music service and remove offline download support for Prime members starting July 2, 2026. This change aims to encourage users to upgrade to the paid Amazon Music Unlimited tier, aligning with Amazon's broader strategy of integrating advertising into its entertainment offerings, as previously seen with Prime Video.
Major streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube are converging on forced-exposure advertising models, with AI agents increasingly employed for planning and buying campaigns. The article argues that while capital markets value creator-led brands, the advertising industry continues to focus on measuring interruptive impressions rather than chosen attention, despite new format innovations like pause ads and vertical feeds being applied to this same model.
This Osmos guide outlines the evolution of retail media networks (RMNs) toward integrated operating systems by 2026, projecting the market to reach $203.9 billion globally. It discusses the three-layer architecture of RMNs, including ad formats, operations, and revenue strategy, and compares various platform providers like Osmos, Amazon Advertising, Criteo, Skai, Topsort, and Kevel. The article emphasizes the financial opportunities, the role of first-party data, closed-loop attribution, and challenges in measurement and data privacy, alongside regional market trends and future predictions like AI-powered optimization and in-store media growth.
Evergent, AWS, and Xroadmedia are collaborating to help streaming media companies shift from growth-focused models to profitability through precision. This partnership emphasizes un-siloed customer data, cloud-native API-first architectures, and AI-driven personalization to manage subscriber lifecycles and reduce churn. The initiative addresses the "convergence crisis" and aims to maximize subscriber lifetime value.
Magnite details its adoption of a hybrid infrastructure model, combining its $130 million on-premise hardware with cloud resources to manage high-volume programmatic ad auctions. This approach enables the company to maintain cost-efficient baseline capacity while scaling elastically to handle unpredictable traffic spikes during major live streaming events. The article highlights how this strategy provides elasticity, proximity to partners, and future-proofing for AI and containerization in ad tech.
Google is migrating its Display Ads campaigns to a new AI-powered platform called Demand Gen, utilizing visual assets across YouTube, Shorts, Discover, and Gmail. The voluntary transition for eligible advertisers starts in June 2026, with new campaigns thereafter solely created in Demand Gen and automatic migration for remaining campaigns. Demand Gen campaigns aim to capture engagement and drive conversions by reaching up to 3 billion monthly active users through Google's expansive network and AI-driven bidding, lookalike segments, and creative optimization.
The article describes the rise of self-serve TV advertising platforms in 2026, driven by streaming's increasing share of US television viewing at 47.5% as reported by Nielsen's Gauge. These platforms enable brands to directly plan, buy, optimize, and measure Connected TV (CTV) campaigns with features like real-time bidding, household targeting, and performance measurement. Several self-serve platforms are highlighted as key players in this evolving ad market.
Digitl offers advertising technology services focused on performance-first execution across video, CTV, and social channels. The company leverages enterprise platforms such as Display & Video 360, Campaign Manager 360, and The Trade Desk for programmatic bidding, audience targeting, and campaign management, aiming to maximize return on ad spend.
MNTN, a Connected TV advertising platform, is recruiting Sales Development Representatives. The role focuses on identifying and acquiring new accounts for its self-serve performance technology, aiming to increase revenue and market share for its automated TV ad suite.
Comcast Advertising is seeking a Senior Analyst for its Measurement & Insights team to evaluate performance across linear, streaming, and addressable media. This role will utilize first-party data and third-party sources to analyze market trends, audience behaviors, and campaign performance, supporting FreeWheel's ad-tech division and Comcast's media sales strategies.
Fox Corporation is expanding its AdRise ad tech platform to unify streaming and linear advertising across its properties including Tubi, FOX Sports, and FOX News. This initiative involves optimizing server-side ad delivery and implementing ML-driven targeting systems using AWS and Snowflake for data collaboration, aiming to enhance cross-portfolio monetization. The company is actively recruiting a Product Manager II to evolve AdRise's capabilities, focusing on integrations, ad-serving systems, and monetization workflows.
Warner Bros. Discovery VP Bridget Jayaram addressed challenges and strategies for addressable TV, emphasizing the need for unified industry systems to compete with digital giants. She noted that current efforts are focused on improving interoperability and collaboration among traditional TV players. The article also discusses the potential for YouTube-originated content to transition to traditional television.
Mission used generative AI to produce a World Cup advertisement featuring Lionel Messi, bypassing traditional on-site shooting which highlights a growing trend in sports marketing to reduce costs and increase content iteration. The adoption of AI in ad production is prompting discussions around IP rights and contract terms, suggesting a shift in how celebrity endorsements are negotiated and activated.
YouTube Shorts has become the first short-form video platform to receive Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for brand safety. This independent verification assures advertisers of robust brand safety controls and accurate campaign measurement, enhancing confidence in advertising on the platform. The accreditation follows an independent audit of YouTube's advertising systems and controls.
SiriusXM and Tubi announced a non-exclusive distribution and monetization deal to bring SiriusXM Podcast Network video content to Tubi's 100 million monthly active users. This partnership expands SiriusXM's video reach and creates new advertising revenue opportunities for both companies through shared ad revenue from video podcasts. The deal highlights the growth of video podcasts and on-demand viewing, and follows SiriusXM's recent expansion of its audio advertising footprint with YouTube.
The article discusses how the leading streaming service is evolving its model from subscription-only to include advertising tiers and stricter account sharing. This strategic shift aims to expand monetization opportunities and serves as a template for the wider streaming industry. The move diversifies revenue streams by supplementing subscription fees with advertising income.
Nine is launching an ad-supported tier for its Stan entertainment service, priced at A$9.99 per month, expanding advertising opportunities beyond Stan Sport. This move introduces new ad inventory for brands and provides a more accessible entry point for Stan subscribers. The advertising offering will leverage Nine's first-party data and audience intelligence.
Connected TV (CTV) ad impressions for Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) increased by 11% from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026, with McDonald's and Chick-fil-A leading in impressions. This growth reflects brands shifting advertising spend to streaming platforms to reach target audiences. Chicken chains, in particular, saw a 310% rise in CTV impressions during the period.
AppHarbr discusses ad quality challenges in sports apps, focusing on issues like competitor advertisements, gambling ads, and deceptive creatives within programmatic ad stacks. The article emphasizes the need for impression-level control to protect audience trust and exclusivity agreements, which current programmatic systems often lack. AppHarbr positions its solution as providing this necessary control before ads reach the user.
Illumin is promoting its omnichannel advertising strategy for the FIFA World Cup 2026, leveraging DOOH, video, display, and social media. The company highlights its proprietary tools, RadiusIQ for geo-fencing and audience retargeting, and ClarityTV for premium CTV ad inventory and verified measurement, to help brands maximize marketing ROI. This approach aims to engage fans across the entire match-day journey, from pre-match excitement to post-match engagement.
Wurl's latest CTV Trends Report advocates for advertisers to re-evaluate their brand safety strategies on FAST news channels, suggesting that broad exclusions lead to missed valuable audiences. The report highlights how scene-level contextual targeting, which evaluates content moments before ad breaks, provides advertisers with more precise control to unlock premium inventory. Wurl's CEO Dave Bernath noted that this technology allows for a more nuanced approach to brand safety compared to traditional genre-level exclusions.
FreeWheel has partnered with Stagwell and Walmart Connect to develop outcome-based optimization for CTV advertising, aiming to directly link ad exposure to consumer actions. These collaborations integrate FreeWheel's curation tools with Stagwell's media acquisition layer and leverage Walmart Connect's retail data to enhance transparency and measurement for advertisers. The initiatives address challenges in proving ad effectiveness and translating traditional TV buying criteria into programmatic signals.
InMobi Advertising has partnered with Scope3 to introduce the first "Agentic Seller," enabling AI-powered buying agents to access premium mobile in-app and CTV ad inventory, including Glance's 300 million first-party users. This initiative, built on AgenticAdvertising.org's Ad Context Protocol, aims to streamline programmatic advertising and offer differentiated inventory previously unavailable to AI buying agents. The partnership seeks to remove manual setup complexities, allowing rapid campaign activation and optimizing ad experiences for outcomes.
Magnite and dentsu have expanded their existing EMEA partnership to Sweden, focusing on programmatic Connected TV (CTV) advertising. The collaboration aims to streamline CTV activation, enhance data-driven media buying, and accelerate innovation in the Swedish market by leveraging Magnite's programmatic infrastructure.
Integral Ad Science's Nick Welch highlights that the future growth of Connected TV (CTV) advertising relies heavily on improved transparency in supply paths and more reliable performance insights. The article notes that lack of clarity in how CTV inventory is bought and measured, including unawareness of programmatic activity, hinders advertiser confidence. Solving these measurement and visibility challenges, possibly through AI-driven content and supply chain analysis, is crucial for fostering trust and sustained investment in CTV.
Major media companies at the 2026 Upfronts, including NBCUniversal, FOX, Amazon, TelevisaUnivision, Disney, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Discovery, highlighted advancements in AI-powered ad technology, cross-platform measurement, and unified advertising platforms. They showcased new ad products, data tools, and strategies for connecting brand storytelling with performance outcomes across linear and streaming video, with a strong focus on authenticated audiences and enhanced targeting capabilities.
This article explains Advertising Video on Demand (AVOD) as a central model in the modern TV ecosystem, projected to reach 210 million U.S. users by 2026 with a U.S. Connected TV ad spend forecast of $37.95 billion. It details how AVOD works, its key features like Dynamic Ad Insertion and granular audience targeting, and differentiates it from SVOD, TVOD, and FAST. The article highlights major AVOD platforms and promotes MNTN's performance TV solutions for advertisers.
Google, Meta, TikTok, and Amazon's Ads MCP servers are centralizing campaign command, enabling advertisers to manage ads across various channels. These servers integrate agentic technology, allowing media buyers to use AI assistants for ad management. This marks a new era of campaign centralization and the adoption of AI in ad tech.
Advertising volumes for IPL 2026 linear TV increased by 4.2% year-over-year, with e-commerce and Google dominating ad spend across both linear and connected TV platforms, according to TAM Sports. The report highlights a strong overlap between advertisers using both linear TV and CTV, suggesting brands view them as complementary mediums for broad reach and targeted engagement. CTV is increasingly appealing to premium and technology-focused advertisers seeking digitally connected audiences.
Roku has expanded its free ad-supported streaming lineup by launching four new live sports channels on The Roku Channel, bringing its total number of free live offerings to over 500. This move follows a 28% year-over-year increase in platform revenue during the first quarter, fueled by advertising and subscriptions. The newly added channels include FIFA Plus Women, FIFA Plus Español, Sports Illustrated, and Stingray Hooked.
StreamGuys has launched a new AI ad tagging service which automates the identification and placement of ad markers in podcasts and archived audio content. This service aims to increase monetizable inventory and reduce manual effort for broadcasters and podcasters. The platform is designed to be agnostic, accepting content from various sources and returning ad markers in industry-standard or custom specifications.
OnlyFans is reportedly losing creators in 2026 due to its 20% fee, lack of native DRM, and limited features compared to competitors. Platforms like Passes.com are gaining traction by offering a 90/10 revenue split, native DRM protection using BuyDRM KeyOS, and multiple monetization streams and business tools.
Amidst overall ad budget cuts of 10-40% in the upfront market, TV networks and streamers are prioritizing sports advertising, with sports-related ad dollars being the only category showing growth. While traditional TV ad spend declines, streaming ad dollars are up 17.9% to $13.2 billion, but ad buyers are pushing for price rollbacks on much of the streaming inventory due to its diffuse nature, with sports being the exception due to live, large audiences.
OpenGlass TV launched a supply-side platform (SSP) aimed at standardizing and streamlining the programmatic trading of dynamic CTV ad formats like pause and home screen ads. This initiative seeks to counter publishers' resistance to standardization and scale emerging CTV advertising experiences that were previously hampered by proprietary formats. OpenGlass is also developing AI solutions to help advertisers adapt standard video ads into these advanced formats.
Ad revenue for the NFL's 2025-26 season increased 7% to $5.9 billion, with significant contributions from both TV networks and streaming platforms. Streaming platform ad growth was up a modest 5% year-over-year, while broadcasters saw a 7% increase, highlighting the ongoing value of live sports content for advertisers.
Adtech platform Nexxen has launched programmatic activation capabilities for native Smart TV inventory in the Asia-Pacific region, powered by its Nexxen DSP. This new offering, called Nexxen TV Home Screen, allows advertisers to target audiences on VIDAA-powered Smart TV home screens in markets including Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The initiative aims to enhance ad engagement by reaching viewers in the discovery phase before content playback.
Advertising volumes for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 grew over 4% on Linear TV, with e-commerce, automotive, and smartphone brands as top spenders. Google emerged as the largest advertiser across both Linear TV and Connected TV (CTV), highlighting the blended investment by digital-first and traditional brands in sports advertising. The report noted distinct advertiser preferences, with CTV attracting digitally connected audiences and Linear TV retaining mass-market consumer brands.
Outernet has partnered with FreeWheel to integrate its digital out-of-home (DooH) inventory, including large LED screens, into FreeWheel's supply-side platform (SSP). This collaboration enables media buyers to extend video campaigns from connected TV (CTV) into public digital media environments. The partnership aims to provide advertisers with a new avenue for premium video campaign extension.
Quick service restaurant (QSR) Connected TV (CTV) ad impressions increased 11% between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026, with McDonald's and Chick-fil-A leading in impressions. This growth reflects QSR brands' strategic shift of advertising spend to capitalize on increasing streaming viewership. AdImpressions reported that CTV QSR ad impressions were dominated by national chains.
TripleLift has partnered with Epsilon to integrate Epsilon's audience data for 250 million consumers into TripleLift's TL Spark platform. This integration enables advertisers and publishers to access enhanced targeting across CTV, web, and mobile, aiming for more efficient and transparent ad performance without additional curation markups.
Rakuten TV research reveals that Free Ad-supported Streaming Television (FAST) has gone mainstream in Europe, with 73.7% of viewers using services daily or several times weekly, and 80.1% considering FAST a primary TV source. The study highlights growing viewer acceptance of advertising within FAST and its role as a content discovery and monetization platform for rights holders and advertisers.
James Varndell · Bitmovin
