By Anastasiia Lushyna
To keep your programmatic advertising strategy effective, you must be aware of what is going on in the industry at the moment. Moreover, you should know how the programmatic niche is projected to change in the future. This knowledge enables you to act proactively and adapt in advance.
So, what will the programmatic advertising ecosystem look like in 2026? We have prepared for you the top five predictions, so read on to get ready for the new year of efficient marketing!
AI-driven personalization becomes more critical
Quality over quantity – that is one of the main principles that you should follow to drive conversions. According to EMARKETER, 80% of consumers say that digital ads can actually be useful, and more than half of them agree that fewer personalized ads feel less intrusive than a greater number of generic advertisements.
Ensuring ultimate personalization should be among your top advertising priorities, and leveraging AI for this becomes virtually a must in 2026. Why? Because the impact of AI on advertising and marketing keeps growing. In 2024, the artificial intelligence in marketing market size reached around $20 billion. In 2034, this figure is projected to surpass $217 billion.
If you do not integrate AI into your processes, you will simply fall behind. However, that is not the only reason to use it. In terms of personalization, AI can help you deliver more relevant experiences to your target audience, stand out from the crowd, and increase the overall campaign performance. With AI, you can get a deeper understanding of your clients, predict their behavior, and improve interactions with them. Besides, with AI, it becomes easier to scale your campaigns without sacrificing personalization.
However, while AI-powered personalization is becoming more and more important, it still requires human touch. Review everything generated or suggested by AI. Use it as a tool, not a replacement for your skills and intuition. Otherwise, your ads may quickly turn into something generic.
Supply path optimization is turning into a must
While programmatic advertising can help you reach your customers at scale, it also introduces several significant issues. First of all, the programmatic ecosystem is complex, and this complexity is increasing. Secondly, it is prone to fraud. Last but not least, it lacks transparency.
Open auctions are not going anywhere (at least, not in the near future), but advertisers are increasingly adopting the supply path optimization (SPO) practices. If you have not done this yet, 2026 is the time to integrate SPO into your strategy. Otherwise, just like in the case of AI, it will be challenging for you to remain competitive and drive conversions.
SPO is not just a buzzword anymore. Minimizing the number of intermediaries offers loads of benefits:
SPO increases transparency and reduces fees, which enables you to allocate more money to your campaigns.
Direct collaboration with high-quality publishers helps maximize the campaign performance and increase sales.
Low-quality inventory is filtered out, which contributes to brand safety and helps you build trust.
The risk of fraud decreases.
Around 80% of users find latency annoying, which affects their perception of ads and associated brands. SPO can significantly reduce latency since unnecessary intermediaries are out of the supply chains.
Therefore, analyze your supply chains and identify the most effective paths to relevant and high-quality inventory. Following such a tactic will be essential for your business to survive in 2026.
Keep in mind that supply paths should be reviewed and optimized regularly. This is not a task that you can complete once and then switch to other things.
CTV advertising will be among the primary growing environments
Desktop and mobile environments are the leaders of programmatic advertising, and this is obvious. These are the gadgets that users spend most of their time with. However, advertisers strive to reach their audiences wherever they are and whatever they are doing. This is why we see connected TV (CTV) and digital out-of-home (DOOH) environments becoming more and more popular.
However, in terms of growth, the CTV environment shows impressive results. Thus, in 2024, global CTV ad spending was projected to exceed $29 billion. By 2027, this figure is expected to reach more than $38 billion. Now, let’s compare these projections with the ones for DOOH. DOOH worldwide ad spending is forecasted to reach almost $19 billion in 2025. By 2030, this number is expected to surpass $26 billion.
As you can see, CTV grows faster, and one of the main reasons for this is that viewers are increasingly switching to streaming services, while the popularity of linear TV is steadily decreasing.
In 2026, consider trying CTV advertising if you have not integrated it into your strategy yet. CTV enables you to deliver highly engaging ads and enhance your omnichannel approach. Sticking to the formats and channels that already drive good results for you does not necessarily mean that you will lose your competitive edge. However, with CTV, you may reach even greater heights. Just make sure to do this in a data-driven way.
Zero-click search keeps changing the approach to advertising
Previously, when we googled something, we had to visit at least one website to find the required information. Nowadays, AI has revolutionized the way we look for answers. When we enter our search query, we immediately see an AI-generated response. We use ChatGPT. The Atlas browser, with ChatGPT already integrated into the experience, has already entered the stage, even though it is exclusive for macOS at the moment. 65% of Google searches now end with no click. For mobile devices, that is 75%.
For programmatic advertisers (and publishers as well), this introduces a significant challenge. If users visit fewer websites, marketers get fewer advertising opportunities. In turn, media owners may face a decrease in income.
Since the problem of a zero-click search is not likely to disappear, the industry has to adapt. In 2026, we can expect business to adjust their strategies and find ways to reach their audiences effectively. For advertisers, this involves reaching users beyond search (CTV, DOOH, in-app, social media, etc.), negotiating guaranteed deals with publishers, prioritizing first-party data, and using contextual targeting. You should review your strategy as well – this is crucial to remain competitive.
Dynamic creative optimization is gaining momentum
Powered by the growing need for ultimate personalization, as well as the increasing impact of AI, dynamic creative personalization (DCO) is gaining traction. This is already happening, and the trend is here to stay not only in 2026 but also in the subsequent years. The global DCO market size reached over $1.8 billion in 2024. By 2033, this value is forecasted to exceed $9.1 billion.
DCO enables you to deliver highly personalized ads in real time – creatives, headlines, and CTAs are tailored to each user. The whole personalization gets data-driven, which increases the relevance of your ads, as well as the conversion rate. Everything is done automatically, so the speed of ad delivery is not affected.
Unlike, for instance, being compliant with privacy regulations, using DCO is not a mandatory requirement for you to succeed in 2026. However, neglecting DCO may result in missed opportunities and a disadvantage against those competitors who already rely on this technology.
As we mentioned before, AI-driven personalization becomes critical, so we expect DCO to keep conquering the programmatic advertising ecosystem. Consider starting to use it – this may help you bring your campaigns to the next level and increase sales.
To sum up
Effective programmatic advertising requires continuous strategy adjustments, and keeping an eye on what is going on in the industry is essential to succeed. While AI-powered personalization, DCO, adaptation to zero-click search, CTV, and SPO are the trends and predictions that are definitely worth your attention at the moment, new tendencies may emerge at any time. Stay on top of the industry news to be able to react quickly.
Attekmi is your trusted partner in any AdTech matter. Contact us and discover how we can help your business grow.
