AI drives smarter media buying

The report found that AI use in media brief summarisation increased from 28 percent in 2024 to 37 percent in 2025, with adoption expected to reach 40 percent in 2026.

DoubleVerify has reported that 97 percent of marketers plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) across aspects of media planning, buying and optimisation in 2026.

However, adoption remains uneven across individual advertising workflows, highlighting opportunities for deeper integration of AI into campaign management.

The findings come from DoubleVerify's 2026 Global Insights Report, Beyond the Hype: The Real State of AI in Digital Advertising. Based on a global survey of 2,020 marketers and additional company data, the report examines how advertisers are applying AI, the results they are achieving and the factors influencing their technology investments.

AI adoption increases across media planning and buying

AI is also gaining traction in campaign activation and bidding. The proportion of marketers using AI to activate campaigns rose from 31 percent in 2024 to 35 percent in 2025, with adoption forecast to reach 40 percent in 2026.

Meanwhile, AI use for bidding optimisation increased from 24 percent to 29 percent over the same period. Marketers expect this figure to reach 34 percent in 2026.

AI supports real-time campaign optimisation

The research also identified growing adoption of AI for mid-flight campaign optimisation, which involves adjusting campaigns while they are running.

Usage increased by 10 percentage points, from 21 percent in 2024 to 31 percent in 2025. Marketers expect adoption to reach 36 percent in 2026, suggesting that advertisers are increasingly using AI to respond to campaign performance in real time.

The results also point to measurable benefits from AI-powered bidding. According to DoubleVerify, 98 percent of marketers using these solutions reported improvements in campaign performance.

Mark Zagorski, CEO, DoubleVerify: "AI is becoming a part of how nearly every marketer plans and buys media, but when you look at adoption across individual workflows, the picture is more nuanced. Marketers are increasingly embracing AI, but there's still considerable opportunity to integrate it more deeply into each step of how campaigns are planned, bought and optimized."

Accuracy and privacy shape AI investment decisions

As AI becomes more embedded in advertising operations, marketers are placing greater emphasis on the reliability and commercial value of the technology.

The report identified three leading considerations when evaluating AI-powered optimisation solutions:

Accuracy and effectiveness: Cited by 35 percent of marketers, making it the most important consideration.
Data privacy and security compliance: Identified by 29 percent, reflecting concerns about protecting sensitive information.
Cost and return on investment: Also cited by 29 percent, highlighting the importance of demonstrating measurable business value.

These priorities suggest that advertisers are looking beyond automation alone, placing greater importance on solutions that deliver reliable recommendations while meeting data protection requirements and commercial objectives.

DoubleVerify expands AI-powered campaign optimisation

DoubleVerify supports advertisers through DV Scibids AI, which uses first-party data and third-party measurement inputs to generate customised bidding algorithms aligned with campaign key performance indicators (KPIs).

The technology aims to improve campaign outcomes while reducing the need for manual optimisation. DV Scibids AI operates within the company's Media AdVantage Platform (DV MAP), which combines media verification, AI-powered optimisation and outcomes measurement.

Mark Zagorski: "Today's AI optimization solutions are already helping marketers make smarter decisions and improve campaign performance. As these capabilities advance, we expect AI agents to take on a greater role in managing campaign optimization on behalf of advertisers. That creates significant opportunity, but it also raises the stakes for accuracy, transparency and measurable performance. Marketers need to trust not only the recommendations AI makes, but also the actions it takes."

The report highlights how AI is moving beyond individual advertising tasks towards a more integrated role in media operations, while reinforcing the importance of transparency, accuracy and measurable results as adoption expands.

The full report can be accessed here

www.doubleverify.com

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