The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released its "2026 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report," projecting that U.S. digital video advertising will surpass $80 billion in 2026. This represents an 11% year-over-year increase, growing nearly 20% faster than the total advertising market. For the first time, digital video is expected to exceed 60% of total TV and video ad spend, signaling a definitive shift toward a digital-first streaming landscape.
Total Spend: Projected to exceed $80B in 2026.
Growth Rate: 11% YoY, outpacing the total ad market by 20%.
Social Video Lead: Social video (13% growth) is outpacing CTV (11%) for the first time, driven by the creator economy and AI.
Market Share: Digital video is set to claim over 60% of the total TV/video advertising market.
Top Criteria: Targeting has officially overtaken content quality as the primary factor for ad investment.
AI Adoption: Nearly all buyers are leveraging or planning to use Agentic AI for video campaigns in 2026.
While Connected TV (CTV) continues to grow—bolstered by the migration of major sports rights (NBA, NFL, MLB) to streaming platforms—social video has taken the lead in growth rate. The IAB attributes this to rapid innovation in AI-powered personalization and massive investment in the creator economy. Marketers are increasingly looking for the "Hollywood economy" and "creator economy" to work in tandem to deliver measurable business outcomes.
Agentic AI has moved from the experimental phase to an operational necessity. According to the report:
21% of buyers are currently live with Agentic AI.
20% are in the testing phase.
25% have concrete plans for activation in 2026.
Adoption strategies vary by company size. Smaller spenders are utilizing AI for creative testing and performance analysis to maximize limited budgets. In contrast, larger enterprises are focused on using AI for inventory discovery and managing the evaluation of complex, high-volume deal types.
In a significant shift, targeting grew by 10 points year-over-year to become the top criteria for video investment, surpassing content quality. This trend is largely driven by mid-market spenders (+23 points YoY) who are navigating challenges like signal loss and the rise of non-human (bot) traffic. As IP-based tracking degrades, the demand for high-fidelity targeting tools has become the industry's most urgent priority.
"Marketers are demanding performance like never before," said David Cohen, CEO of IAB. "They expect the creator and Hollywood economies to work together to deliver business results."
The second part of the 2026 report, which will dive deeper into the specific strategies behind these growth rates, is scheduled for release on July 14, 2026, during the IAB Video Leadership Summit.
About IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and technology firms. IAB fields critical research, develops technical standards through the IAB Tech Lab, and advocates for the industry in Washington, D.C.
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