CTV

Ads were going to be a “last resort” for ChatGPT, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman promised two years ago. Now, they’re finally here. Omnicom Digital CEO Jonathan Nelson joins the AdExchanger editorial team to talk through what comes next.

PayPal announced plans to acquire Cymbio, a startup that helps brands improve their presence in AI searches. Plus: Hollywood seems to have forgotten how to do good movie marketing.

YouTube is finally delivering on the promise of shoppable CTV ads. Starting Thursday, they’ll roll out to all of Google’s Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, YouTube confirmed to AdExchanger.

Netflix beat its revenue expectations for last year, ending 2025 with $42.5 billion in revenue, a 16% year-over-year jump. Of that, $1.5 billion came from advertising.

Returning to the news desk after a year away from CTV beat reporting is like discovering a time capsule with the industry’s core dilemmas. One thing that has changed, however, is the CTV industry’s infatuation with agentic AI.

Meta cuts its metaverse investment by 30%; Netflix makes a renewed push in the gaming market; and the rush to slap an AI label on everything is placing existing ad tech under renewed scrutiny.

Content is still king – so long as you measure it correctly, Comscore’s Chief Commercial Officer Steve Bagdasarian told AdExchanger at CES 2026 in Las Vegas.

Political advertising has always evolved alongside media consumption. But the shift from linear television to streaming has introduced challenges that campaign managers are still working to navigate. While connected TV (CTV) promises precision and flexibility, the reality facing political advertisers today is far more complex and less standardized.

Maggie Zhang from Amazon Ads talks interactive video strategy, including opportunities on Amazon Prime Video and which genres drive the most engagement.

For years, interactive CTV advertising was the star of industry demos – promising, flashy and mostly theoretical. In 2025, they finally made the leap from proof of concept to practice.

Omnicom unveils the latest version of its ID and analytics tool; there’s a new Google Search update in town; and Omnicom Media addresses CTV ad frequency.

If there’s one thing Disney knows how to do well, it’s brand-building. Now, the massive media conglomerate is developing new tools specifically designed to help its advertising clients do the same.

NBCU’s early embrace of ad tech – led by Ryan McConville, its chief product officer and EVP of ad platforms – set the stage for a pandemic-fueled digital transformation that blurred the line between traditional TV and streaming. But that doesn’t mean linear isn’t still a top priority.

NBCU is testing agentic systems that can automatically activate campaigns across its entire portfolio – including live sports on linear.

If any single event can be considered the jumping-off point for TV upfronts, it’s the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES), which kicks off this week in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This year, programmatic companies faced tough decisions about privacy, awkward acquisitions and the cookie die-off that never quite happened.

The generative AI trend generated endless hot takes this year, but the ad industry also had plenty to say about growing competition between DSPs and SSPs. Here are AdExchanger’s top 10 most popular guest columns of 2025 and why they resonated.

TV ad measurement is breaking down. Tatari’s Benjamin Heaton explains why signal loss and privacy shifts are reshaping how TV campaigns, and how it can be fixed.

Programmatic media buying is expected to account for the majority of growth in the CTV market in 2026. This year alone, over 90% of CTV ad dollars were transacted through programmatic pipes. That data isn’t surprising. Programmatic has solved a real problem by helping brands reach TV viewers with targeted precision at much lower costs.

Roku’s streaming data will now be integrated into Nielsen’s campaign measurement and outcome tools, the two companies announced on Monday,

First, the VAB clashes with Nielsen over Big Data, and Pinterest teams up with tvScientific. Plus, Google Ad Manager rolls out major EU changes, from ditching Unified Pricing Rules to deeper data sharing with publishers.

Let’s close out the year with a roundup of the most impactful CTV stories of the year, from Netflix’s ad surge to Nielsen’s measurement missteps.

Viant struck a deal with IHeartMedia and its Triton Digital advertising platform that will make IHeart’s broadcast radio inventory available through Viant’s DSP.

The film and TV studio Lionsgate has chosen Comcast’s FreeWheel as its exclusive ad server to help manage and sell the growing volume of ad inventory Lionsgate creates with new FAST channels.

2026 is going to be a big year for NBCUniversal. Not only will it play host to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, it’s also going to broadcast the Super Bowl, the NBA Playoffs, the regular MLB season on NBC and the FIFA World Cup on Telemundo.

Inside Coca-Cola’s pivot from TV advertising to influencer marketing; Netflix inks another exclusive video podcast deal with iHeartMedia; and Madison & Wall predicts slow US ad spend growth in 2026.

CTV isn’t an emerging channel anymore. It’s a fully established, essential part of the media mix. Advertisers now understand its reach, flexibility and ability to drive measurable outcomes.

Samsung Ads built a new integration with Amazon Publisher Cloud (APC), which is a clean room solution within the larger Amazon Publisher Suite (APS), the companies announced on Monday.

Netflix could acquire Warner Bros., unless Paramount swoops in or regulators intervene. How rearranging the streaming leaders could affect the CTV ad business.

Google’s AI browser opens relevant tabs for you; Disney-owned characters are now featured on Sora; and Google’s AI Max for Search gets lackluster feedback.