US AdTech Deal Tracker

Paramount+ is aggressively advancing the frontier of programmatic live sports advertising on Connected TV (CTV) by expanding premium inventory access, integrating sophisticated AI-driven technologies, and pioneering privacy-first, multi-source attribution frameworks. These developments come amid an increasingly complex ecosystem shaped by evolving privacy mandates, supply-path transparency challenges, and rapid technological innovation. By combining expanded premium live sports inventory with cutting-edge programmatic workflows and robust measurement solutions, Paramount+ is redefining how advertisers engage passionate sports audiences in real time—across both video and audio platforms—while safeguarding brand safety and creative integrity. --- ### Expanded Programmatic Access to Premium Live Sports Inventory and Live Audio Streaming Building on its earlier expansion, Paramount+ has notably broadened its programmatic offering to include a more diverse and prestigious array of **professional leagues, collegiate athletics, and international competitions**. This enhanced portfolio delivers advertisers **unrivaled reach to highly engaged, contextually relevant sports audiences** across multiple sports verticals, deepening engagement and precision targeting. Simultaneously, Paramount+ has strategically extended its programmatic footprint into **live sports audio streaming**, a rapidly growing channel for fan engagement. Partnerships with leading audio platforms such as **Cadent**, **DAX U.S.**, and collegiate sports audio leader **Learfield** have unlocked immersive programmatic audio inventory. Industry experts increasingly recognize live sports audio as evolving beyond a mere brand awareness tool into a fully integrated component of Martech stacks—leveraging customer data platforms (CDPs), programmatic buying, and omnichannel triggers to achieve measurable campaign outcomes. **Key Highlights:** - Access to marquee leagues and tournaments across pro, college, and international sports. - Expanded audio inventory enables advertisers to reach fans during live broadcasts, pre- and post-game shows, and ancillary content. - Audio programmatic integrates with video campaigns for synchronized, multi-format brand storytelling. --- ### Cutting-Edge Technology Stack Enables Real-Time, Emotionally Resonant Ad Experiences At the heart of Paramount+’s programmatic live sports innovation is a sophisticated technology ecosystem designed to deliver **dynamic, contextually precise ads that resonate emotionally with viewers in real time**: - **Advanced Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI):** By ingesting real-time game data—such as scoring swings, momentum changes, and pivotal moments—Paramount+ dynamically tailors ad creatives mid-broadcast. This hyper-contextual ad delivery ensures messaging aligns tightly with the live sports narrative, boosting viewer engagement and brand recall. - **Near-Zero Latency Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI):** Paramount+’s refined SGAI infrastructure enables ultra-low latency ad delivery, preserving an uninterrupted, immersive viewing experience critical during high-stakes moments. - **AI-Driven Creative Automation:** Tools like **MNTN QuickFrame** facilitate near real-time generation of dynamic video ads customized to live game events and evolving audience segments. Furthermore, the rebranded **Matchpoint Creative Labs** (formerly IndiCue), now under Cineverse, has enhanced AI-assisted creative workflows for live sports. Cineverse’s stock surge—from $7.50 to $11.00 per share—signals strong market confidence in AI-driven creative personalization as a competitive differentiator. - **Creative Optimization and Attribution:** **iSpot’s AI Agent** provides granular, real-time insights into viewer engagement, brand recall, and conversions, enabling agile campaign refinement during broadcasts. Simultaneously, **EDO’s Always-On Attribution Platform** and conversational AI **ChatEDO™** transform complex cross-platform data into near real-time actionable insights, empowering advertisers to dynamically optimize campaigns as live events unfold. - **Sales Lift and Retail Attribution:** Collaborations with **Becausal** deliver continuous sales lift measurement, while integration with **Infillion’s Catalina retail purchase data** provides essential point-of-sale attribution—critical for CPG and retail advertisers aiming to quantify live sports advertising ROI. - **Enhanced Audience Analytics:** Partnerships with **Tubi/Nielsen** and **VideoAmp/TVision** incorporate co-viewing and cross-device behavior data, refining targeting and campaign optimization strategies. Together, these technologies enable advertisers to exploit the emotional intensity and spontaneity of live sports, delivering **real-time, contextually aligned messaging that deeply resonates with sophisticated sports audiences**. --- ### Streamlining Programmatic Workflows with Agentic AI and Interoperability Innovations Recognizing the operational complexities inherent in live sports programmatic advertising, Paramount+ integrates agentic AI-driven interoperability solutions that **reduce friction, accelerate bidding, and automate deal workflows**: - **Prebid’s Agentic AI** automates interoperability between demand- and supply-side platforms, optimizing real-time bidding (RTB) efficiency and minimizing latency. - The **Chalice AI and PubMatic Agentic Interoperability Initiative** enhances seamless data exchange and workflow automation, optimizing inventory management and bid efficiency across platforms. - The introduction of **Smoot’s Sift platform** adds a self-service deal automation layer, empowering advertisers and publishers to automate programmatic negotiations with minimal manual intervention. - **KNOREX’s Agentic AI-Ready Ads API** extends automation to orchestrate cross-channel campaigns spanning programmatic, Meta, and Google Ads environments. - Emerging ad-tech innovators like **RAD Intel**, with its newly launched **RAD Amplify** platform under a dedicated holding company, enrich the AI-powered programmatic ecosystem, indirectly bolstering Paramount+’s programmatic environment. This layered agentic AI infrastructure streamlines campaign execution, enabling advertisers to capitalize on premium live sports inventory with greater speed, precision, and operational scale. --- ### Privacy-First, Multi-Source Measurement Framework Addresses Identity Fragmentation In an era marked by declining third-party identifiers and heightened privacy regulations, Paramount+ has architected a **robust, multi-layered attribution framework** emphasizing transparency, accuracy, and compliance: - A pioneering joint initiative between **Index Exchange and Gracenote** enables **show-level proof-of-purchase verification**, directly linking CTV impressions to retail sales. This innovation significantly bolsters advertiser confidence by providing transparent, verifiable ROI metrics. - Integration of **Catalina retail purchase data** via Infillion adds a critical point-of-sale attribution dimension, allowing advertisers to measure the true consumer impact of live sports advertising. - **Becausal’s Always-On Sales Lift Measurement** continuously delivers incremental sales insights, enabling mid-game campaign adjustments. - Partnerships with **Tubi/Nielsen** and **VideoAmp/TVision** enhance audience analytics by incorporating co-viewing and cross-device signals, improving targeting precision and campaign efficacy. - Advanced AI-powered tools such as **iSpot SAGE Automated TV Ad Analysis** and **Domo’s Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM)** provide frameworks for dynamic media planning and creative optimization. - Paramount+ champions **contextual targeting** by syncing ads dynamically with live game narratives and viewer signals—a privacy-conscious strategy endorsed by industry leaders like Magnite’s Ryan Kenney. - The platform’s reliance on **first-party data methodologies**, inspired by DISH Media’s direct customer signals, reduces dependence on third-party cookies or IP targeting, enhancing audience fidelity and attribution accuracy. - To better address diverse audiences, Paramount+ has expanded multicultural programmatic addressability through partnerships like **Canela Media’s collaboration with LiveRamp**, leveraging cross-platform customer matching to boost campaign effectiveness. - The recent integration of **IRIS.TV’s contextual targeting technology** further strengthens Paramount+’s privacy-first, non-identifier-based CTV performance. Field Garthwaite of IRIS.TV emphasizes this approach as essential for maintaining targeting precision while respecting privacy in the evolving CTV landscape. --- ### Navigating Supply-Path Transparency Amid Industry Realignments The programmatic advertising supply chain continues to face scrutiny over transparency and fee structures: - Major holding companies such as **Dentsu** and **WPP** have notably withdrawn from The Trade Desk’s OpenPath program, citing opaque fee models and insufficient supply-path visibility. This underscores a broader industry demand for trust and transparency in programmatic buying. - In response, The Trade Desk launched the **Ventura Ecosystem**, a streaming platform designed to foster a more transparent, equitable advertising environment. - Paramount+’s comprehensive approach—featuring transparent show-level attribution, multi-source measurement, and interoperable workflows—positions it as a trusted partner for advertisers seeking clarity, reliability, and accountability in live sports CTV programmatic. --- ### Enhancing Persona-Based CTV Targeting with Ogury and Maintaining Human Oversight Paramount+ has further enhanced its targeting arsenal by integrating **persona-based CTV advertising** capabilities through collaboration with **Ogury**. Ogury’s expansion into CTV enables advertisers to leverage rich persona data for **precise audience segmentation beyond traditional demographics**, facilitating hyper-targeted, privacy-conscious campaigns that authentically resonate with viewers. Despite extensive AI automation and agentic workflows, Paramount+ maintains a **human-in-the-loop operational model** to: - Navigate platform and device fragmentation, ensuring cohesive campaign execution across a fragmented ecosystem. - Standardize measurement and transparency across multiple supply- and demand-side technologies. - Safeguard brand safety, storytelling nuance, and strategic judgment amid fast-evolving automated workflows. This balanced approach preserves creative quality and advertiser trust—both critical for success in the dynamic live sports programmatic environment. --- ### Ecosystem Momentum and Market Confidence Reinforce Paramount+’s Leadership Paramount+ both benefits from and actively contributes to a vibrant ecosystem of AI-driven programmatic innovation: - The launch of **RAD Amplify** by RAD Intel’s holding company exemplifies growing momentum in AI-powered ad tech solutions that enhance programmatic capabilities. - Advances in **KNOREX’s Ads API** and **Samsung Ads’ ad formats and demand generation** enrich the technical infrastructure supporting premium live sports programmatic advertising. - The addition of **Smoot’s Sift platform** introduces a novel agentic infrastructure layer for deal automation, streamlining workflows and boosting operational efficiency. - Cineverse’s valuation growth following the IndiCue acquisition underscores AI-powered creative workflows as a formidable market differentiator, bolstering confidence across the broader programmatic sports advertising ecosystem. --- ### Conclusion: Defining the Future of Scalable, Transparent Programmatic Live Sports Advertising Paramount+’s evolving programmatic ecosystem represents a **multi-dimensional, AI-augmented framework** that sets new standards for live sports advertising by: - Delivering **real-time, mid-broadcast dynamic ad insertion** tightly synchronized with live sports narratives to maximize emotional and contextual relevance. - Accelerating **AI-driven creative automation** through partnerships with MNTN QuickFrame, Matchpoint Creative Labs, and iSpot. - Providing **continuous conversational attribution and measurement** via EDO’s ChatEDO™, enabling near real-time campaign transparency and optimization. - Unlocking **exclusive premium live sports CTV and audio inventory**, broadening monetization channels and audience engagement opportunities. - Streamlining campaign delivery with **agentic AI integrations** including Prebid, Chalice AI, KNOREX, Smoot, and RAD Intel. - Enhancing attribution accuracy through **privacy-compliant, multi-source measurement** incorporating retail sales data, co-viewing analytics, persona-based targeting, contextual signals, and first-party data methodologies. - Maintaining a **balanced human-AI operational approach** that protects brand safety and creative nuance without sacrificing scale. - Demonstrating robust market confidence and ecosystem innovation, reinforcing AI-powered creative workflows and programmatic orchestration as key competitive advantages. As live sports continue to dominate CTV viewership, Paramount+ is decisively reshaping programmatic sports advertising—empowering advertisers to connect authentically with passionate fan bases while delivering superior outcomes in an increasingly complex, privacy-conscious, and technologically sophisticated industry landscape.

The advertising landscape continues to undergo a profound transformation as **deterministic shopper-level data**, advanced **AI copilots**, and increasingly **commerce-enabled programmatic infrastructures** converge to reshape creator campaigns and media buying strategies. Since Infillion’s landmark acquisition of Catalina in early 2026, the industry has accelerated toward **autonomous, transparent, and performance-driven advertising models**, leveraging rich purchase data integrated with AI-powered optimization to deliver unprecedented campaign precision across digital, connected TV (CTV), and retail media. --- ### Infillion and Catalina: The Deterministic Data Foundation Powering Autonomous Campaigns At the heart of this revolution is Catalina’s deterministic purchase data, collected from millions of U.S. households and now fully integrated into Infillion’s expansive data ecosystem. This integration enables brands and agencies to **directly link ad exposures with verified retail sales**, moving far beyond traditional proxy metrics like clicks or impressions. The result is a closed-loop attribution system that feeds rich, real-time insights into AI copilots, which autonomously optimize bidding, creative personalization, and audience targeting across multiple channels. Key benefits include: - **Significantly enhanced ROAS** by aligning media spend with actual purchase outcomes - **Reduced media waste** through precise audience segmentation and dynamic bid adjustments - **Cross-platform transparency** achieved via partnerships with measurement leaders such as iSpot’s SAGE and Comcast Advertising’s Rooke, unifying consumer journey tracking across streaming, linear TV, and retail environments Innovations like Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) further refine the feedback loop by synchronizing ad delivery and measurement, enabling near-definitive attribution of offline sales to specific digital and CTV ads. This granular linkage empowers AI copilots to make fully informed, autonomous decisions that maximize campaign performance with agility. --- ### The Trade Desk’s Ventura Ecosystem: Setting New Benchmarks for CTV Transparency and Value Mid-2026 marked the debut of The Trade Desk’s **Ventura ecosystem**, a strategic initiative designed to address pervasive challenges in the fragmented CTV advertising market. Ventura offers: - **A transparent fee structure with rigorous quality controls**, creating predictability and trust for advertisers navigating complex streaming inventory - **Standardized, real-time campaign measurement and reporting**, improving advertiser confidence and enabling more accurate performance assessment - **Interoperability with Catalina’s deterministic shopper data**, facilitating seamless multi-channel attribution across streaming, digital, and retail media - **Strategic partnerships with Walmart Connect and the IAB’s Project Eidos**, advancing integrated measurement frameworks and cross-industry data sharing Despite these advances, Ventura’s rollout has illuminated ongoing challenges. Notably, **Netflix’s launch of an in-house ad platform** has introduced significant inventory fragmentation, complicating buy-side coordination. Advertisers have reported **double-buy scenarios**, unintentionally purchasing overlapping streaming inventory through both Netflix’s internal system and programmatic channels. This fragmentation underscores the continued difficulty of achieving comprehensive transparency and efficiency in the streaming advertising ecosystem. At CES 2026, iSpot CEO Julie Van Ullen highlighted the urgency of these integration efforts: > “Integrating real-time audience data with deterministic purchase signals is critical to reduce fragmentation and elevate transparency across the advertising ecosystem.” Her remarks reinforce that while Ventura sets a new industry standard, **ongoing collaboration and interoperable measurement solutions are indispensable to sustain advertiser trust and prevent inefficiencies**. --- ### Complementary Platforms and Automation Tools Accelerate Agentic Programmatic Buying The ecosystem’s momentum is further propelled by innovative platforms and automation tools that extend deterministic data and AI-driven optimization into new corners of the market: - **Smoot’s Sift platform** empowers buyers and sellers to autonomously negotiate, execute, and optimize programmatic deals in real time. When combined with Catalina’s deterministic shopper data and AI copilots, Sift delivers: - **Self-service deal automation democratizing programmatic negotiations** - **Enhanced campaign agility by reducing reliance on manual workflows** - **Scalable and transparent deal management fostering ecosystem trust** - **AdImpact’s AdMo+** builds on its TV intelligence foundation to deliver granular tracking of ad exposures across linear and streaming TV, integrated with deterministic purchase data. This enables: - **Detailed cross-channel TV ad exposure insights** - **Unified measurement linking TV impressions to actual retail transactions** - **Commerce-enabled programmatic workflows aligning TV media investments with sales outcomes** - **Clicta Digital’s OTT/CTV service**, launched in late 2026, addresses the growing streaming ad spend and inventory diversification by providing advertisers access to premium OTT/CTV inventory with integrated measurement capabilities. This simplifies media buying and enhances ROI transparency amid a fragmented streaming environment. Together, these platforms deepen the ecosystem’s capacity for **autonomous, data-driven media buying and measurement**, bridging traditional and programmatic TV environments. --- ### Industry Consolidations Reinforce AI and Deterministic Data Integration The past year has seen significant mergers and restructurings that bolster the industry’s AI-powered, deterministic data-driven advertising capabilities: - **OneMagnify’s acquisition of Optimal’s performance marketing business**, supported by Crestview, enhances AI-enabled marketing solutions optimized for deterministic attribution, increasing campaign automation and cross-channel precision. - **RAD Intel’s reorganization into a new holding company** accelerates AI innovation and vertical integration, with ventures like RAD Amplify focusing on autonomous, performance-driven advertising technologies. These consolidations, combined with the foundational capabilities of Ventura, Catalina, Sift, and AdMo+, are forging a robust and scalable ecosystem for transparent, accountable advertising at scale. --- ### Persistent Challenges: Navigating Fragmentation, Fees, Quality, and Governance Despite rapid technological progress, several enduring challenges shape the advertising ecosystem: - **Inventory Fragmentation and Double-Buys:** Netflix’s in-house ad platform fragmentation highlights persistent coordination difficulties, risking inefficiencies and inflated media costs. - **Fee Transparency and Accountability:** Resistance from some major holding companies to initiatives like The Trade Desk’s OpenPath reflects ongoing tensions around fee structures and media spend allocation, particularly in CTV and programmatic markets. - **Media Quality and Fraud Risks:** The explosion of streaming inventory increases vulnerability to fraudulent and low-quality media. This necessitates advanced detection technologies, rigorous inventory verification, and strengthened quality controls to safeguard advertiser investments. - **Balancing AI Automation with Brand Safety:** While AI copilots dramatically boost efficiency, hybrid governance models combining human oversight with AI decision-making remain vital to protect brand integrity and strategic objectives. Industry stakeholders continue investing heavily in fraud prevention, transparent inventory certification, and collaborative governance frameworks to maintain ecosystem health and advertiser confidence. --- ### Strategic Imperatives for Marketers and Media Owners To succeed in this complex environment, marketers and media owners should: - **Adopt Hybrid Human+AI Campaign Models:** Leverage AI copilots for operational scale and precision, while retaining human judgment to ensure brand authenticity and strategic alignment. - **Prioritize Performance-Driven Budgeting:** Allocate media spend based on campaigns demonstrably linked to deterministic purchase outcomes, decisively moving beyond traditional metrics like clicks and impressions. - **Engage in Cross-Industry Collaboration:** Participate actively in initiatives such as The Trade Desk/Walmart Connect measurement projects and the IAB’s Project Eidos to advance interoperable, deterministic data frameworks. - **Invest Aggressively in Fraud Prevention and Media Quality Assurance:** Protect media investments through cutting-edge fraud detection, transparent inventory verification, and accountable fee structures. --- ### Looking Forward: Toward a Transparent, Autonomous, and Authentic Advertising Future The advertising industry stands at a pivotal crossroads. The synergistic impact of Infillion’s Catalina acquisition, The Trade Desk’s Ventura ecosystem, Smoot’s Sift, AdImpact’s AdMo+, and emergent entrants like Clicta Digital—alongside the complexities introduced by platform-specific challenges such as Netflix’s in-house ad service—are collectively accelerating the shift toward **autonomous, transparent, commerce-enabled AI-augmented advertising**. By fusing **rich deterministic shopper data** with sophisticated **AI copilots** and **agentic programmatic infrastructures**, brands and media owners can now deliver **authentic audience engagement** and **measurable business outcomes** with unmatched scale and precision. The convergence of human creativity and machine intelligence—backed by automated deal workflows and unified cross-platform measurement—positions the industry to redefine advertising in an increasingly fragmented and complex media landscape. This new era promises unparalleled efficiency, accountability, and growth potential—but also demands vigilant governance and robust cross-industry collaboration to navigate emerging risks and sustain advertiser trust. The path forward embraces innovation balanced with transparency and integrity, laying a strong foundation for continued evolution well into the future.

Pinterest continues to redefine the connected TV (CTV) advertising landscape by uniquely combining its exclusive **first-party intent data** with **tvScientific’s deterministic attribution** and cutting-edge **AI-driven automation**. This triad forms a **performance-focused, scalable CTV ecosystem** that delivers transparent and outcome-driven results, empowering advertisers to confidently navigate the increasingly complex and privacy-conscious media environment of 2026. --- ### Pinterest’s Intent Data: The Cornerstone of Precision CTV Targeting At the heart of Pinterest’s CTV success lies its vast reservoir of **high-intent consumer signals**. Billions of user interactions—searches, saves, pins—reflect active purchase consideration, enabling ultra-precise audience targeting within premium CTV environments. This privacy-safe, first-party data uniquely bridges consumer intent with verifiable business outcomes, setting Pinterest apart in an industry grappling with diminishing third-party identifiers. The ongoing partnership with **tvScientific** enhances this foundation by delivering **near-real-time deterministic attribution** that links Pinterest-driven CTV ad exposure directly to sales, leads, and app installs. This level of attribution transparency is unmatched by traditional probabilistic methods, allowing marketers to optimize campaigns dynamically and maximize return on ad spend (ROAS) with confidence. --- ### Key 2026 Developments Reinforce Deterministic Attribution and Autonomous Optimization Several pivotal industry advancements and integrations in 2026 have further cemented Pinterest-tvScientific’s leadership in performance-driven CTV advertising: - **Infillion’s Acquisition of Catalina Unlocks Granular Retail Purchase Data** The February 2026 acquisition granted access to expansive, deterministic retail transaction datasets. When combined with Pinterest’s intent signals and tvScientific’s attribution models, this integration vastly improves accuracy beyond probabilistic approaches, enabling advertisers to precisely measure and optimize campaigns across retail verticals and beyond. - **Comcast Advertising and Adara Pioneer Closed-Loop Travel Attribution** Their innovative model directly ties premium CTV ad exposure to verified travel bookings and revenue, providing irrefutable ROI evidence. Plans to extend this closed-loop approach into retail and other sectors promise wider validation of deterministic CTV measurement’s power. - **iSpot’s SAGE Platform Integrates Agentic AI for Autonomous Video Ad Optimization** The upgraded SAGE platform now leverages trusted video ad data fused with agentic AI, autonomously generating actionable insights and optimization recommendations. Industry experts describe this advancement as “a next-level AI evolution,” aligning seamlessly with Pinterest-tvScientific’s vision for near-instantaneous, ROI-focused campaign refinement. - **Becausal Introduces Always-On AI Sales Lift Measurement** Becausal’s continuous, AI-powered solution quantifies incremental sales attributable to CTV campaigns in real time. This enhances Pinterest-tvScientific’s closed-loop validation ecosystem by providing ongoing, precise confirmation of campaign effectiveness. - **EDO’s ChatEDO™ Conversational AI Accelerates Data-Driven Decisions** ChatEDO™ enables marketers to query complex campaign datasets using natural language, dramatically reducing analysis time. Integrated with Pinterest-tvScientific’s KPI feedback loops, it empowers rapid, data-driven campaign optimizations in fast-moving CTV environments. - **Programmatic AI Retargeting Expands Across Premium Platforms** Pinterest’s intent-based audiences are now activated on programmatic platforms like **Index Exchange** and **The Trade Desk**, enabling scalable AI-driven retargeting across CTV and digital video. Complementary sell-side automation tools—including **Prebid’s AdCP agent code**, **KNOREX’s Ads API**, and **Smoot’s Sift** platform—facilitate fully autonomous programmatic deal automation, supporting seamless self-service workflows aligned with agentic AI trends. - **Ogury Expands Persona-Based Advertising to CTV** Adding to the ecosystem’s momentum, Ogury’s recent expansion of its persona-based advertising into CTV signals growing industry confidence in combining persona and intent data activation within premium streaming environments. This development complements Pinterest’s approach by reinforcing the value of nuanced audience segmentation in CTV. --- ### Navigating New Competitive Dynamics: Netflix’s In-House Ad Platform A major development shaking up the CTV landscape in 2026 is **Netflix’s launch of its proprietary advertising platform**. This has introduced new complexities for advertisers, including reported inadvertent **double spends** where campaigns run simultaneously on Netflix’s platform and traditional programmatic CTV channels. This development presents a dual-edged scenario for Pinterest: - **Risks:** Fragmented supply and overlapping buys increase campaign complexity and costs, demanding tighter attribution and inventory management to prevent inefficiencies. - **Opportunities:** Netflix’s entry validates the growing significance of CTV and premium streaming inventory, underscoring the strategic importance of Pinterest’s commitment to **deterministic measurement and premium direct partnerships** to maintain transparency and maximize ROI. Pinterest’s performance-focused ecosystem—anchored in deterministic attribution and AI-enabled optimization—uniquely equips advertisers to navigate these shifting supply dynamics with precision and confidence. --- ### Foundational Pillars: Premium Inventory, Privacy-First Targeting, and AI-Powered Automation Pinterest’s CTV ecosystem is strengthened by several critical components that ensure quality, scale, and privacy compliance: - **Premium Direct Inventory Partnerships** Collaborations with **Xumo** (Comcast-Charter) and **Cadent** provide access to 100% premium, fraud-free, direct-sourced inventory. These brand-safe placements are vital in a fragmented streaming market, enabling scalable, outcome-driven campaigns. - **Privacy-First Contextual Targeting Innovations** With the decline of third-party identifiers, Pinterest doubles down on privacy-first contextual targeting by integrating real-time content metadata and environment signals alongside intent data. Notable integrations include: - **Wurl’s content metadata** enhancing ad relevance - **VideoElephant’s expanded premium video inventory** - **VideoAmp and TVision’s granular household-level co-viewing data** - **Index Exchange and Gracenote’s show-level purchase verification** linking ad exposures to actual purchases - **AI-Powered Creative Automation and Agentic AI Workflows** Platforms such as **Playad’s GIGR**, **MNTN’s QuickFrame AI**, and **Cineverse’s Matchpoint Creative Labs** (enhanced by IndiCue) accelerate creative production. Agentic AI tools like **Chalice AI** and **PubMatic sell-side agents** automate campaign decisions, enabling fully autonomous, performance-optimized CTV campaigns at scale. - **Near-Real-Time KPI Feedback Loops** Pinterest rapidly correlates intent signals with ad engagement and verified conversions, allowing marketers to swiftly identify winning creatives and audience segments, driving agile campaign optimizations and superior efficiency. --- ### Ecosystem Momentum and Industry Validation Pinterest’s pioneering approach is supported by broad ecosystem trends and strategic partnerships emphasizing transparency, automation, and premium supply: - **The Trade Desk’s Ventura Ecosystem** Ventura fosters a transparent, accountable streaming marketplace with streamlined programmatic CTV buying, complementing Pinterest’s emphasis on premium inventory and deterministic measurement. - **Samsung Ads’ Immersive Carousel Home Screen Ad Unit** Samsung’s innovative carousel format transforms CTV home screens into dynamic brand showcases, delivering significant engagement uplifts and new creative opportunities for Pinterest-powered campaigns. - **Cineverse’s $22 Million Acquisition of IndiCue** This acquisition significantly boosts Cineverse’s creative automation capabilities, accelerating Pinterest-tvScientific’s AI-driven workflows and campaign responsiveness. - **DISH Media’s Privacy-Safe Direct Customer Signals** DISH Media’s privacy-conscious direct signals align closely with Pinterest’s first-party data philosophy, reinforcing a privacy-centric ecosystem foundation. - **Agentic AI Gains Industry Traction** Spotlighted at CES 2026 by Disney’s Alex Combs, agentic AI is transforming media planning through near-real-time campaign adjustments and reduced manual overhead, mirroring Pinterest-tvScientific’s autonomous optimization trajectory and fueling CTV budget growth. - **Google DV360 Q1 2026 Enhancements** Updates to insertion order targeting and inventory source settings in Google’s DV360 platform present new programmatic CTV buying opportunities, aligning with Pinterest’s intent audience integrations. - **RAD Intel’s AI Ad Tech Holding Company Launch** The formation of this AI-focused entity signals a broader industry push toward agentic AI innovation, complementing Pinterest-tvScientific’s autonomous campaign optimization roadmap. --- ### Outlook: Toward a Fully Deterministic, Autonomous, and Transparent CTV Future Pinterest’s fusion of **exclusive first-party intent data**, **tvScientific’s deterministic outcome measurement**, expansive premium inventory partnerships, and advanced AI-powered creative and agentic workflows is accelerating a new era of CTV advertising characterized by: - **Transparent, Full-Funnel Attribution** End-to-end clarity into consumer journeys from Pinterest discovery through CTV exposure to verified revenue enables precise budget allocation and optimization. - **Dynamic, AI-Driven Campaign Optimization** Near-real-time KPI feedback and autonomous agentic AI workflows empower rapid budget shifts toward highest-value audiences and creatives, maximizing agility and effectiveness. - **Accelerated Creative and Media Workflows** Autonomous creative generation and programmatic buying facilitate rapid responses to evolving consumer behaviors and market dynamics. - **Scalable, Premium Programmatic Inventory with Brand Safety** Direct partnerships and layered video environments create fraud-resistant, high-quality inventory pools ideal for scaling performance campaigns. - **Industry Measurement Standards and Growing Advertiser Confidence** Initiatives like IAB’s Project Eidos boost transparency and cross-platform comparability, fostering advertiser trust and accelerating CTV adoption. - **Expanding Advertiser Budgets Fueled by AI Efficiencies** Nearly 80% of CTV advertisers plan budget increases exceeding 11% in 2026, driven by agentic AI efficiencies that position CTV as a marketing channel rivaling digital in sophistication and ROI. --- ### Conclusion Pinterest’s relentless innovation—anchored in its exclusive first-party intent data and strengthened through expanding partnerships with tvScientific and ecosystem leaders—is fundamentally reshaping CTV advertising into a **performance-first, outcome-driven ecosystem**. The integration of new deterministic revenue attribution capabilities (Infillion-Catalina acquisition, Comcast-Adara closed-loop travel models), advanced agentic AI for video optimization (iSpot SAGE), conversational analytics (EDO ChatEDO™), programmatic expansions (Index Exchange, The Trade Desk, Prebid, KNOREX, Smoot’s Sift), continuous sales lift measurement (Becausal), and a growing network of premium inventory partners positions Pinterest at the forefront of a pivotal shift in how marketers plan, execute, and optimize CTV campaigns. As Netflix’s in-house ad platform reshapes supply dynamics, Pinterest’s commitment to transparent, deterministic measurement and autonomous, AI-driven campaign optimization equips advertisers to confidently navigate complexity, avoid inefficiencies, and unlock the full potential of CTV—delivering measurable business impact at scale with unmatched transparency, efficiency, and agility.