US AdTech Deal Tracker

Paramount+ continues to solidify its position at the forefront of Connected TV (CTV) live sports advertising by dramatically expanding programmatic access to premium live sports inventory and integrating cutting-edge AI-driven technologies that enhance precision, transparency, and scale for advertisers. As the live sports CTV ecosystem grows more complex—shaped by stringent privacy regulations, supply-path scrutiny, and rapid technological innovation—Paramount+ is pioneering a **privacy-first, multi-layered programmatic framework**. This framework empowers advertisers to engage deeply with passionate sports audiences across video and audio platforms while maintaining brand safety and creative nuance. --- ### Broadening Programmatic Access to Premier Live Sports CTV and Audio Inventory Paramount+ has significantly expanded its programmatic offering to include a wider portfolio of **marquee professional leagues**, **top-tier collegiate athletics**, and **international competitions**. This expansion grants advertisers **unrivaled access to highly engaged, contextually relevant sports viewers**, enabling broader reach and more precise audience targeting across multiple sports verticals. Simultaneously, Paramount+ has amplified its **programmatic live sports audio inventory** by forging partnerships with major audio streaming platforms and collegiate sports audio leaders such as **Cadent**, **DAX U.S.**, and **Learfield**. This strategic expansion taps into the rapidly growing live sports audio streaming market, offering advertisers novel, immersive channels to connect with passionate fan bases beyond traditional video. Industry observers increasingly recognize audio as evolving beyond an awareness tool into a fully integrated Martech component—leveraging customer data platforms (CDPs), programmatic buying, and omnichannel triggers to drive measurable campaign outcomes. --- ### Advanced Technology Stack Delivers Real-Time, Contextual Ad Experiences At the core of Paramount+’s enriched programmatic ecosystem lies a suite of sophisticated technologies designed to deliver **emotionally resonant, contextually precise ads seamlessly integrated into live broadcasts**: - **Advanced Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI):** Paramount+ harnesses real-time game data—including scoring swings, momentum shifts, and pivotal moments—to dynamically tailor ad creatives mid-broadcast. This hyper-contextual approach ensures ads align tightly with live sports narratives, significantly boosting viewer engagement and brand recall. - **Near-Zero Latency Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI):** The platform’s refined SGAI infrastructure enables seamless, low-latency programmatic ad delivery that preserves an uninterrupted, immersive live sports viewing experience, critical for maintaining audience attention during high-stakes moments. Together, these technologies allow advertisers to capitalize on the spontaneity and emotional intensity of live sports, delivering **real-time messaging that resonates deeply with discerning sports audiences**. --- ### Empowering Advertisers with AI-Driven Creative Automation and Near Real-Time Attribution To address the unpredictable nature of live sports, Paramount+ equips advertisers with AI-powered tools that facilitate rapid creative adaptation and precise performance measurement: - **MNTN QuickFrame** enables near real-time generation of dynamic video ads, allowing advertisers to customize creatives instantly based on live game events and evolving audience segments worldwide. - Following Cineverse’s strategic acquisition and rebranding of IndiCue as **Matchpoint Creative Labs**, AI-assisted live sports creative workflows have been significantly enhanced. The market has responded positively, with Cineverse’s stock rising from $7.50 to $11.00 per share—a testament to AI personalization’s growing role as a competitive differentiator. - **iSpot’s AI Agent for Creative Optimization** provides granular, real-time insights into viewer engagement, brand recall, and conversion metrics, fueling agile creative iteration and campaign refinement during live broadcasts. - For attribution, Paramount+ deploys **EDO’s Always-On Attribution Platform** and its conversational AI, **ChatEDO™**, which translate complex cross-platform data into actionable insights in near real time. This empowers advertisers to dynamically optimize campaigns as games unfold. - Collaborations with **Becausal** offer continuous sales lift measurement, while integration with **Infillion’s Catalina retail purchase data** provides essential point-of-sale attribution—vital for consumer packaged goods and retail advertisers seeking to quantify live sports advertising ROI. - Enhanced audience analytics from partnerships with **Tubi/Nielsen** and **VideoAmp/TVision** incorporate co-viewing and cross-device behaviors, refining targeting and campaign optimization strategies. --- ### Streamlining Programmatic Workflows Through Agentic AI and Interoperability Recognizing the complexity of live sports programmatic advertising, Paramount+ leverages agentic AI and interoperability innovations to reduce friction and enhance operational efficiency: - **Prebid’s Agentic AI** automates interoperability between demand- and supply-side platforms, accelerating real-time bidding processes while minimizing latency. - The **Chalice AI and PubMatic Agentic Interoperability Initiative** facilitates seamless data exchange and workflow automation, optimizing inventory management and bid efficiency. - The introduction of **Smoot’s Sift platform** adds a self-service deal automation layer, empowering advertisers and publishers to automate programmatic workflows with minimal manual intervention. - **KNOREX’s Agentic AI-Ready Ads API** extends automation across programmatic, Meta, and Google Ads platforms, enabling streamlined orchestration of cross-channel campaigns. - Emerging AI ad-tech innovators like **RAD Intel**, with the launch of **RAD Amplify** under a new holding company, contribute to a maturing ecosystem of AI-powered programmatic solutions that indirectly bolster Paramount+’s environment. --- ### Privacy-First, Multi-Source Measurement Tackles Identity Fragmentation In an increasingly privacy-conscious environment marked by the decline of third-party cookies and identifiers, Paramount+ has architected a **robust, multi-layered attribution framework** designed for accuracy, transparency, and compliance: - A joint initiative between **Index Exchange and Gracenote** enables **show-level proof-of-purchase verification**, directly linking CTV impressions to retail sales and significantly enhancing advertiser confidence. - Integration of **Catalina retail purchase data** via Infillion adds a critical point-of-sale attribution dimension, enabling advertisers to quantify the true consumer impact of live sports ads. - **Becausal’s Always-On Sales Lift Measurement** continuously delivers incremental sales insights, allowing campaign adjustments mid-game. - Partnerships with **Tubi/Nielsen** and **VideoAmp/TVision** augment audience analytics by incorporating co-viewing and cross-device data, improving targeting precision. - AI-powered tools including **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 dynamically syncing ads with live game narratives and viewer signals—a privacy-conscious strategy endorsed by industry leaders such as 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 serve diverse markets, Paramount+ has expanded multicultural audience programmatic addressability through partnerships like **Canela Media’s collaboration with LiveRamp**, leveraging cross-platform customer matching to boost campaign effectiveness. - **Newly integrated IRIS.TV contextual targeting technology** further strengthens Paramount+’s commitment to **privacy-first, non-identifier-based CTV performance**, enabling advertisers to target audiences based on rich contextual signals rather than personal identifiers. Field Garthwaite of IRIS.TV underscores this approach as essential for maintaining performance while respecting privacy in the evolving CTV landscape. --- ### Navigating Supply-Path Transparency Amid Industry Realignments Amid growing demands for transparency and accountability in programmatic supply chains, the industry is witnessing significant realignments: - Major holding companies such as **Dentsu** and **WPP** have withdrawn from The Trade Desk’s OpenPath program, citing opaque fee structures and insufficient supply-path visibility. This marks a broader industry push for trust and transparency in programmatic buying. - In response, The Trade Desk launched the **Ventura Ecosystem**, a streaming platform aimed at fostering a fairer, more transparent advertising environment—directly addressing advertiser concerns about supply-path opacity. - Paramount+’s comprehensive approach—featuring **transparent show-level attribution, multi-source measurement, and interoperable workflows**—positions it as a trusted partner for advertisers demanding clarity, reliability, and accountability in live sports CTV programmatic. --- ### Enhancing Persona-Based CTV Targeting with Ogury Integration Paramount+ has further enhanced its targeting capabilities by integrating **persona-based CTV advertising** through a collaboration with **Ogury**. Ogury’s expansion into CTV empowers advertisers to leverage rich persona data for **precise audience segmentation beyond traditional demographics**, enabling hyper-targeted, privacy-conscious campaigns that resonate authentically with viewers. --- ### Balancing Automation with Human Oversight to Maintain Brand Safety and Creative Nuance Despite extensive AI automation and agentic workflows, Paramount+ maintains a **human-in-the-loop operational model** to: - Navigate platform and device fragmentation, ensuring unified campaign execution across an increasingly diverse 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—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 in 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 is setting 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.