Our Connected TV (CTV) Working Group’s 2026 predictions spotlight both the challenges and opportunities shaping CTV. To dive deeper, we’ve split this into a mini-series, featuring perspectives from several members of our Working Group, offering a rounded view of where CTV is headed across this week.
Contributors emphasise the urgent need for greater transparency and standardised measurement to overcome fragmentation across platforms and devices. At the same time, they highlight CTV’s growing potential for advertisers - from premium inventory and Retail Media data integrations to cross-platform reach, convergence with linear TV, and more outcome-based buying. With increased cooperation and automation, the industry is poised to build a more efficient, transparent, and advertiser-friendly CTV ecosystem.
Thank you to the following contributors for sharing their expertise in this post:
Anita Caras, VP of Insights & Measurement, Teads
Steph Miller, Commercial Director EMEA, Publica by IAS
Emmanuel Josserand, Sr Director, Brand, Agency and Industry Relations, Comcast Advertising
Julie Selman, SVP Head of EMEA, Magnite
If CTV is on your radar for the new year, now is the perfect time to get involved. You can explore more of our work on our Knowledge Hub and reach out to Marie-Clare Puffett at puffett [at] iabeurope.eu to learn how you can participate, contribute, and share your expertise in the Working Group.
Anita - "Media fragmentation remains a significant challenge, driven by inconsistent definitions of success and a lack of standardised taxonomy. This presents clear opportunities for standardisation in measurement, focusing on agreed-upon definitions and key metrics, as well as fostering data collaboration. Performance advertising, by prioritising outcome-based Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), can also simplify the measurement landscape to a degree.
Furthermore, I anticipate a surge in creativity on the big screen. As Connected TV (CTV) harnesses the immediacy of the web, we can expect to see QR codes, Augmented Reality (AR) virtual try-ons, 3D placements, and seamless integrations with other smart devices like Alexa that will directly link to purchase options become more widely used."
Steph - "Publishers need to ensure that they are happy with their tech stack to ensure that they are adequately set up to maximise revenue. As the competition for eyeballs in CTV increases, publishers need to make sure they optimise their precious ad seconds every time. This means looking at improving things like revenue per second and increasing transparency around inventory, along with ensuring that measurement and optimisation methodologies are updated."
Emmanuel - "In the latest FreeWheel Video Marketplace Report, CTV’s rising dominance is clearly highlighted as the primary device for premium video ad consumption, with ad views surging +31% year-over-year in Europe and +8% in the U.S. This growth reflects premium publishers’ successful investments in monetisation and technology, particularly in programmatic delivery. Yet, there are still significant opportunities to expand automation across VOD and live inventories. Doing so will unlock new advertiser spend, diversify revenue strategies, and improve operational efficiency. Importantly, viewers will benefit too – new ad formats, advances in frequency management and relevancy will reduce ad fatigue, creating more engaging and personalised streaming experiences that strengthen the value of premium video."
Julie - "Major live sporting events, such as the Winter Olympics or the World Cup, are incredible opportunities for brands, but success ultimately depends on timing and preparation. When audiences are fully immersed in the action, advertisers need to align their creative and targeting with what’s happening in the moment. Our live scheduler now makes it possible to activate campaigns in real-time, ensuring messages reach viewers at the most impactful moments and helping to avoid wasted impressions. The brands that plan ahead and treat live sports as precision opportunities for engagement will build stronger emotional connections and long-term loyalty, which is the ultimate goal. "
Emmanuel - "As we move into 2026, the industry is experiencing a step-change moment, with AI making multiscreen TV advertising simpler, smarter, and more accessible. With smarter inventory management, publishers can unlock higher yield, while advertisers benefit from precision targeting and improved ROI. For viewers, AI enhances relevance and repetition, creating a better streaming experience. Combined with premium media and advanced delivery tech, the use of AI will ensure the right ad reaches the right audience. By accelerating programmatic and lowering barriers to entry, self-serve platforms like Universal Ads are making CTV buying as easy as social advertising, opening the door to any business."
Julie - "AI is really helping CTV become smarter and more intuitive. It allows campaigns to respond in real time, adapting to how people watch, when they engage, and what keeps them interested. The result is advertising that feels more personal and relevant, and ultimately delivers better experiences for both brands and viewers. With streamr.ai now part of Magnite, we’re empowering small and medium-sized businesses to tap into the same AI-driven capabilities as the largest advertisers. It’s about making great creative and effective campaigns accessible to everyone, no matter their size or resources."
Steph - "Programmatic technology and AI will enable publishers to serve ads that closely align with the content and context of what audiences are watching, making every impression more relevant and valuable. Innovations like live contextualisation that can use AI-driven video analysis to align ads with scenes or moments in programming, or target positive emotions during live sports, mean publishers can drive higher revenues, as advertisers are willing to pay premium CPMs for placements that complement the viewing experience. This approach not only boosts ad relevance and shapes more positive brand perceptions but also gives advertisers greater control over where their ads appear, helping ensure investments are focused on the most impactful opportunities."
Anita - "AI is already being used to add layers of personalisation and call-to-action capabilities. For example, Audio Stack uses AI to localise video creatives on CTV. It is also an implied component in the deterministic and probabilistic models used to build device graphs for deduplication and attribution of exposure signals."
Steph - "To achieve a truly transparent and standardised CTV measurement ecosystem, the industry needs to balance advertisers’ demand for granular transparency (whether that’s around reach, content, or context) with the operational and regulatory realities faced by publishers. While CTV offers powerful addressability and targeting advantages, data sharing can be constrained by privacy legislation and publishers’ need to protect core revenue streams. The key is for publishers to proactively enable transparency, such as passing show-level or content data to buyers, which not only builds advertiser trust but also allows sellers to command higher CPMs for premium inventory. Ultimately, standardising transparency practices benefits all: it empowers advertisers with the insight they need while allowing publishers to realise greater efficiency and revenue across their entire inventory."
Emmanuel - "A transparent, standardised CTV measurement ecosystem requires industry-wide collaboration on common metrics, interoperable technology, and privacy-compliant data sharing. Performance TV is emerging, enabling brands to measure everything from awareness to purchase using advanced attribution and dynamic ad formats. A path forward lies in going beyond the measurement of audiences and towards outcome-based KPIs; industry stakeholders need to work together and aim to establish unified standards, scalable identity frameworks, and consistent measurement models that balance innovation with simplicity. Cross-media measurement should be set as a longer-term vision."
Julie - "Transparency begins with everyone using the same language to describe what success looks like. Collaboration across publishers, agencies and tech partners is key to creating consistent metrics and trusted verification. When the whole ecosystem aligns, advertisers can invest with confidence, and audiences benefit from better experiences."
Anita - "In my opinion transparent and standardised ecosystem requires coordinated action from all industry players:
Julie - "2026 feels like the year CTV will really hit its stride. It’s no longer just about big brand moments or performance alone; it’s about doing both and doing them brilliantly. With data and creativity working together, and new formats like pause ads, interactive tiles and shoppable moments making viewing more engaging, CTV is becoming a place where stories drive action and build genuine connection."
Anita - "The industry is moving toward a hybrid model. While the arrival of performance clients is an exciting opportunity that shifts focus to outcome-based measurement, the unique value of CTV remains rooted in the "USP of TV/the big screen" to deliver engaging content and create an emotional connection. Therefore, while outcome-based metrics like web traffic impact and sales lift will be crucial, upper-funnel metrics such as attention, brand lift, and MMM will continue to be important measurement tools that leverage the medium's core strengths."
Steph - "It can be both with the right transparency of data and given the right KPIs. As the biggest screen in your home, CTV advertising is always going to be a key driver of awareness. However, with measurement and data being more available than ever before, it can also be used for performance campaigns too."
Emmanuel - "Performance will be a major focus for marketers, not only because CTV provides both the tools and the data to allow for more precise targeting and measurement, but also because the introduction of new ad formats makes driving lower-funnel goals easier. As the industry’s priorities shift from mass reach to incremental gains, the emphasis on measurable performance will only intensify in the next year. However, as CTV matures, marketers will increasingly look at CTV to deliver upper-funnel awareness as well as outcome-based results, and the brand-safe environments like streaming TV will be essential for accessing the high-quality data needed to achieve both."
Anita - "To truly grasp the value of CTV within the overall media landscape and navigate the challenges of fragmentation and privacy, my primary wish is for concerted action across the industry. This means enhanced collaboration between advertisers, agencies, and media owners to establish standard metrics and, critically, to prioritise cross-media outcome measurement."
Steph - "I’d love to see less fragmentation and more transparency. Everyone is crying out for more unified forms of measurement, and I hope 2026 will finally answer that cry. Transparency, I believe, is the key to unlocking more revenue, but it’s down to the data owners whether they want to part with that information yet or not."
Julie - "I’d love to see a simpler, more connected CTV landscape. One where campaigns are easy to plan across markets, smaller brands can get involved, and transparency is part of the process from the very start. With creativity and collaboration leading the way, Europe has a real chance to shape the next chapter of CTV."
