Business Outcomes Are Just the Beginning, According to IAB Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Full Report

Market Lacks Consensus About Agentic AI Role

NEW YORK, July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Despite strong spending across all formats, demands for more transparency and differences between how large and small buyers see the market are shaping buyer strategies and actions. 

That’s among the key findings revealed in the 2026 IAB Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Full Report. This second part of the report, developed in partnership with Advertiser Perceptions and Guideline, examines the changes in how video ad spend decisions happen.

As Part One of the report released in May revealed, U.S. digital video ad doubled in volume from only five years ago. Social video (13%), CTV (11%), and online video (10%) all are projected to see increases. But as budgets have risen, so have demands for quality.

“Sellers have heard loud and clear that video buyers want outcomes, and they have been acting on it,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “But delivering outcomes is only half the equation — understanding more about how those outcomes were achieved is critical in today’s insight-driven environment.”

As signal loss erodes targeting reliability, and AI-enabled automation (including bots, crawlers, agents) complicate audience classification, marketers are placing greater weight on the ability to understand exactly which audiences drove performance so they can efficiently replicate – or incrementally build on – those successful tactics. This is especially acute for SMBs targeting niche audiences.

Buyers are questioning the quality of what they’re buying
Even for the most trusted CTV buying methods, like direct I/O, programmatic guaranteed, and self-serve, a surprising 43% of buyers expressed “somewhat to no confidence” in the quality of the inventory they’re buying. That number rises to 55% for private marketplaces (PMPs) and 67% for open exchange/RTB.

“Buyer trust is being eroded on two fronts: by bad actors introducing invalid inventory into the marketplace and by uncertainty around the origin and placement of otherwise legitimate inventory,” said Chris Bruderle, VP, Industry Insights & Content Strategy, IAB. “Buyers are wondering ‘where is my ad actually running, where does the inventory come from, and how much of it is invalid traffic (IVT).'”

While fraud is the leading driver of mistrust, buyers are not willing to pay a premium to prevent it. Sellers should take action to reduce fraud and increase investment in tools to improve campaign performance and accountability.

Increasing focus on targeting and audience reach
“Outcomes make getting on a media plan easier, but knowing what audiences drove the outcomes is what keeps you on the plan,” continued Bruderle. Signal loss from IP degradation and the rise of AI-driven traffic, mean that targeting and audience reach are now ranked as equally important as business outcomes. SMBs have even higher expectations for CTV niche audience targeting (up 23 points year-over-year) than big brand advertisers.

Live is worth a premium, but some buyers want more proof
Nearly all (93%) buyers agree “live” is worth more than all other video content. They see it as delivering higher attention (45%) and better business outcomes (38%). But a skeptical third of buyers point to outcomes and measurement as primary gaps in ROI.

Nearly all buyers see a role for agentic AI in programmatic, but with no consensus
Here again, while nearly everyone (96%) agrees there’s a role for agentic AI, there’s no consensus on what that role will be.

Buyers want humans in the loop (40%) and fully half (50%) of small and medium spenders feel strongly about it. They also want an AI agent audit trail for explainability (36%) and guardrails that limit what agents can do (31%).

GenAI is already core to digital video ad production, but smaller buyers are slower to adapt
Nearly two-in-three buyers now use GenAI for digital video creative, up from half in 2025. One-third of their ad assets will leverage GenAI this year, up from one-fourth in 2025—with that share projected to reach 43% by 2027.

Among smaller buyers, 96% are not satisfied with their current level of GenAI use for creative ad production. More than four in ten want more proof of performance and easier integrations with platforms and DSPs.

The full 2026 IAB Video Ad Spend Report is available here.

About IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and collaboration of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

About Advertiser Perceptions
Advertiser Perceptions is the global leader in research-based business intelligence for the advertising, marketing, and ad technology industries. Our experienced staff delivers an unbiased, research-based view of the market, competing brands, and their customers with analysis and solutions tailored to each client’s specific KPIs and business objectives – providing them with the confidence to make the very best sales and marketing decisions, driving greater revenue and increased client satisfaction.

About Guideline
Guideline is a global provider of ad intelligence and media plan management technology powering the strategy, planning, and management of advertising buying and selling for the world’s leading enterprises. Our solutions deliver the industry’s most comprehensive and timely insights, enabling enterprises from publishers, agencies and brands to investors and consulting firms to optimize media performance and drive superior business outcomes. Our media planned management solutions administer over $300 billion in media budgets, representing 60,000 media plans and 10,000 active users across many of the world’s top brands and agencies. Our proprietary spend and pricing data represents approximately $200 billion in annual media investment across 65 countries worldwide, providing the most complete and transparent view of the global advertising marketplace available today.

For more information, visit www.guideline.ai.

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SOURCE Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)