The Interactive Promoting Bureau initiatives US promoting spend will climb 9.5% in 2026, accelerated by main cyclical occasions and a decisive shift towards agentic AI methods able to autonomous marketing campaign execution, in keeping with analysis launched right this moment.
The 2026 Outlook Examine attracts from insights offered by greater than 200 manufacturers and company patrons surveyed by IAB. The forecast arrives because the promoting trade transitions from AI experimentation to scaled implementation throughout planning, activation, and measurement operations.
Digital channels proceed increasing market share. Social media promoting is projected to develop 14.6%, whereas connected TV exhibits 13.8% anticipated development and commerce media forecasts 12.1% positive factors, in keeping with the research launched on January 28.
Linear tv faces continued decline, with spending anticipated to drop 1.7%. The forecast represents a slower contraction charge than earlier years, cushioned by momentary viewership spikes from the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and US midterm elections, in keeping with IAB’s evaluation.
Agentic AI dominates strategic priorities
5 of the six high areas commanding elevated advertiser focus join on to synthetic intelligence capabilities, reflecting how quickly these applied sciences have developed from rising instruments to basic trade infrastructure, the report states.
Two-thirds of advertisers now focus on agentic AI for ad buying and campaign execution, in keeping with IAB’s findings. The autonomous methods plan, activate, and optimize campaigns with velocity and scale that handbook workflows can’t match.
Cross-platform measurement has risen to 72% precedence standing amongst advertisers, up from 64% year-over-year, the research signifies. The rise displays mounting strain to attach AI-orchestrated implementation with measurable outcomes as automated decisioning methods proliferate throughout platforms.
Content material optimized for AI-generated solutions has grow to be a precedence for 73% of entrepreneurs, revealing how synthetic intelligence shapes not simply supply mechanisms however the basic construction of artistic and search visibility methods, in keeping with IAB knowledge.
“AI is now not a siloed initiative – it is the connective tissue that hyperlinks media, measurement, artistic, and buyer expertise,” in keeping with Chris Bruderle, Vice President of Business Insights & Content material Technique at IAB. “However what’s altering in 2026 is how AI is being deployed – not simply as a instrument however as an clever accomplice coordinating campaigns in actual time.”
The shift towards agentic execution marks a basic transformation in how campaigns function. Advertising platforms deployed AI agents all through late 2025, with methods now able to autonomous troubleshooting, price range pacing, and viewers optimization with out fixed human intervention.
Strategic priorities shift from acquisition to retention
Buyer acquisition stays the highest goal for 54% of patrons, but that determine declined 10 share factors year-over-year, in keeping with IAB’s survey knowledge. In the meantime, driving repeat purchases has grown to 25% of purchaser priorities, practically doubling from 13% in 2024.
The transition displays maturing first-party knowledge ecosystems and rising acquisition prices pushing advertisers towards retention-focused methods, the report signifies. Retail media networks and CRM platforms now attain tens of millions of recognized prospects, enabling extra environment friendly personalization and loyalty applications at scale.
“Manufacturers are clearly rebalancing their development methods as acquisition prices rise and first-party knowledge ecosystems mature,” Bruderle said. “AI – significantly agentic AI – is poised to allow entrepreneurs to activate these knowledge belongings extra intelligently, driving personalization, loyalty, and repeat buy at scale.”
Commerce media, clear rooms, CRM onboarding, and loyalty applications have developed into major development engines fairly than assist techniques for mid-size and enormous advertisers in search of predictable, worthwhile outcomes, in keeping with IAB’s evaluation.
Patrons grapple with studying curve and shopper habits shifts
Adapting to altering shopper habits now represents the highest funding problem for 44% of entrepreneurs, surpassing macroeconomic components, the research exhibits. Understanding generative AI emerged as a serious problem for 38% of patrons, rising 14 factors from 2024.
The information underscores pressure between strategic ambition and operational readiness. Whereas advertisers express confidence in AI-powered channels, many organizations battle with implementation boundaries together with knowledge high quality points, system integration complexities, and cross-platform orchestration challenges.
The educational curve extends past technical capabilities to strategic utility. As agentic systems automate marketing campaign setup, concentrating on, and optimization capabilities, advertising and marketing groups should develop new abilities centered on oversight, technique, and artistic route fairly than tactical execution.
Whole US promoting spend projected at 9.5% development displays robust efficiency throughout digital codecs whereas conventional channels contract, in keeping with IAB knowledge. Social media’s 14.6% projected growth positions the channel as a major development driver, aligned with broader trade forecasts displaying social media advertising reaching $277 billion globally in 2025.
Related tv continues capturing price range share from linear broadcasting, with 13.8% anticipated development reflecting the medium’s mixture of tv attain and digital concentrating on capabilities. Analysis signifies CTV’s share of media budgets doubled from 14% in 2023 to twenty-eight% in 2025.
Commerce media’s 12.1% projected development displays the channel’s evolution right into a performance-focused promoting class. Cost networks together with Mastercard and PayPal launched commerce media networks all through 2025, leveraging transaction knowledge to ship measurable return on advert spend.
Linear tv’s 1.7% decline represents slower contraction than current years, briefly stabilized by main cyclical occasions scheduled for 2026. The Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup generate concentrated viewing durations that drive advertiser spending regardless of secular decline in conventional tv consumption.
Cyclical occasions present momentary linear TV reduction
Main media occasions scheduled for 2026 create distinctive circumstances buffering linear tv from steeper declines, in keeping with IAB evaluation. The Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and US midterm elections ship concentrated viewership spikes that briefly elevate advertiser demand for conventional broadcast stock.
These cyclical patterns present short-term stabilization however don’t reverse basic shifts in viewing habits. Streaming consumption continues displacing linear tv, with Netflix, YouTube, and other streaming servicescapturing rising shares of complete viewing time throughout demographic segments.
The momentary stabilization creates planning complexity for advertisers balancing short-term occasion alternatives in opposition to long-term channel migration traits. Media patrons should allocate budgets throughout each conventional broadcast for main occasions and streaming platforms capturing on a regular basis viewing consumption.
Business infrastructure adapts to AI-driven execution
The transition towards agentic AI methods requires substantial infrastructure improvement throughout the promoting ecosystem. IAB Tech Lab released a comprehensive agentic roadmap in January 2026, extending OpenRTB and current requirements with trendy protocols to allow autonomous marketing campaign execution with out fragmenting the trade by means of incompatible frameworks.
A number of competing protocols emerged all through 2025, together with the Ad Context Protocol launched with six founding companies and numerous proprietary implementations from main platforms. The proliferation raised issues about ecosystem fragmentation if totally different methods can’t talk successfully.
Measurement standardization stays essential as AI methods execute campaigns autonomously. Advertisers require constant frameworks for evaluating efficiency throughout platforms and validating that automated methods ship anticipated outcomes whereas sustaining model security and effectivity requirements.
Financial context and market circumstances
The 9.5% development forecast assumes comparatively steady macroeconomic circumstances, although financial uncertainty stays a major concern for advertisers. Earlier IAB analysis confirmed that in September 2025, the group revised its 2025 forecast downward from 7.3% to five.7% development on account of tariff issues and financial pressures affecting automotive, retail, and shopper electronics sectors.
The 2026 projection represents improved outlook in comparison with the challenges that characterised a lot of 2025. Nonetheless, purchaser sentiment knowledge signifies continued warning, with adaptation to altering shopper habits now rating as the first funding problem above macroeconomic components.
Digital promoting income reached $258.6 billion in 2024, rising 14.9% year-over-year in keeping with IAB and PwC evaluation launched in April 2025. The robust 2024 efficiency offers momentum heading into 2026, although development charges reasonable because the market matures.
Measurement and accountability pressures intensify
Cross-platform measurement’s rise to 72% precedence standing displays rising strain for accountability as promoting spend grows and automatic methods proliferate, in keeping with IAB knowledge. Advertisers require constant frameworks evaluating efficiency throughout channels and validating AI-driven optimizations.
Commerce media measurement standardization efforts all through 2025 established definitions and methodologies addressing fragmentation challenges. IAB and IAB Europe launched complete pointers distinguishing incrementality measurement from attribution and return on advert spend calculations.
The emphasis on measurement connects on to retention-focused methods gaining precedence amongst advertisers. Driving repeat purchases requires exact attribution linking promoting publicity to subsequent transactions throughout on-line and offline environments, capabilities that many platforms nonetheless growing.
Agentic AI methods executing campaigns autonomously create further measurement necessities. Advertisers want visibility into how automated methods make selections, which audiences they aim, and what artistic variations they deploy to keep up management over model positioning and price range effectivity.
Looking forward to 2026 implementation
The 2026 Outlook Examine positions the approaching 12 months as a essential inflection level the place AI transitions from experimental know-how to operational infrastructure throughout the promoting trade. The shift from acquisition-focused to retention-driven methods displays maturing digital ecosystems enabling extra refined viewers engagement.
“Our report exhibits that on this development cycle, innovation and experimentation are firmly taking precedence because the market is being structurally reimagined,” in keeping with David Cohen, CEO of IAB. “The encouraging information is that patrons are nonetheless 2026 as a 12 months of development regardless of a number of doubtlessly destabilizing forces.”
The trade faces substantial execution challenges as agentic methods scale. Organizations should develop new operational capabilities, set up governance frameworks for automated decision-making, and prepare groups on oversight fairly than tactical execution abilities.
Platform competitors intensifies as main promoting methods together with Google, Amazon, and multiple ad tech providersdeployed agentic capabilities all through late 2025. The race to determine market positioning creates strain for fast deployment whereas sustaining high quality and model security requirements.
Timeline
Abstract
Who: The Interactive Promoting Bureau surveyed greater than 200 manufacturers and company patrons to evaluate 2026 promoting spending patterns, strategic priorities, and know-how adoption traits throughout US markets.
What: IAB forecasts 9.5% year-over-year development in US promoting spend for 2026, pushed by digital channel growth, main cyclical occasions, and fast adoption of agentic AI methods. Social media promoting will develop 14.6%, linked TV 13.8%, and commerce media 12.1%, whereas linear tv declines 1.7%. 5 of six high advertiser priorities join on to AI capabilities, with two-thirds specializing in agentic methods for autonomous marketing campaign execution.
When: The 2026 Outlook Examine was launched on January 28, 2026, analyzing projected spending and strategic priorities for the calendar 12 months forward based mostly on survey knowledge collected from advertisers throughout late 2025.
The place: The forecast applies to US promoting markets throughout all channels together with social media, linked tv, commerce media, search, show, and linear tv. Digital channels characterize the first development drivers whereas conventional codecs contract.
Why: The projected development displays the promoting trade’s transition from AI experimentation to scaled implementation of autonomous methods, mixed with main cyclical occasions offering momentary linear tv stabilization. Advertisers shift strategic focus from buyer acquisition towards retention as first-party knowledge ecosystems mature and AI methods allow extra refined viewers engagement at scale. Cross-platform measurement rises in precedence as automated methods proliferate, creating strain for standardized accountability frameworks validating AI-driven marketing campaign optimizations.
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