Mediaocean yesterday released its 2026 H2 Market Report, finding that AI media has become the fastest-growing advertising investment category at 60% planned spend growth - while only 19% of marketers believe AI is causing a major workflow transformation, down from 28% in the previous period.

The report is the tenth in Mediaocean's bi-annual research series. It is based on surveys conducted in May 2026 among 312 marketing professionals spanning brands, agencies, media companies, and technology providers. The series has accumulated more than 6,400 total respondents since the first edition published in late 2021. Field surveys run through SurveyMonkey.

According to Mediaocean, 75% of marketers identified AI as the most important consumer trend to watch. That figure marks the fourth consecutive reporting period in which AI has held the top position. The November 2025 survey underpinning the H1 edition recorded 70% for the same metric; the May 2025 survey recorded 72%.

Connected TV/Streaming ranked second in November 2025 at 63%, up 24% from May 2025. TikTok/Social Video rose to 43%, one of the steepest lifts across all tracked categories. Consumer Privacy came in at 28%. E-Commerce Everywhere declined to 27%, down from 36% in May 2025 and 35% in November 2024. Sustainability/Carbon Impact debuted as a newly tracked category at 17%.

Channel spend intentions: where the money is going

According to Mediaocean's H1 2026 data - drawn from 320 respondents surveyed in November 2025 - every measured channel showed either increasing or stable planned spend, with no channel recording net negative momentum at the aggregate level.

CTV and digital display/video tied at the top, with 63% of marketers planning to increase spend in each. Social platforms followed at 61%.

AI media (ads on AI agents and platforms) reached 54% planning increases - higher than the 47% recorded for search. That marked the first time in the survey series that a nascent channel had surpassed search in planned investment growth. The H2 release puts AI media at 60% for the second half of the year, extending that gap.

Retail media showed 40% planning increases. The majority of remaining respondents planned to maintain existing levels, reflecting durability in bottom-funnel performance rather than growth momentum.

Traditional channels faced the sharpest contractions. Print recorded 49% of respondents planning to decrease spend. National TV registered 34% planning decreases. Local TV stood at 36%. Radio/Audio and OOH/DOOH also showed elevated decrease rates relative to digital-only categories.

Capability priorities: AI and orchestration debut in the top tier

The November 2025 survey asked 1,472 respondents which advertising capabilities and media investments are most critical given current macroeconomic conditions. Two new entries appeared for the first time: AI at 39% and Cross-Platform Orchestration at 39%.

Established categories held the top three positions. Performance-Driven Paid Media led at 51%, down from 60% in November 2024. Brand Advertising came in at 48%. Measurement and Attribution Capabilities matched at 48%.

Privacy rose 33% since May 2025, reaching 24% - reflecting mounting concern over signal loss, tightening regulation, and inconsistent data access.

Automation reached 30%, described by Mediaocean as an essential companion to AI adoption as teams scale outputs with constrained resources.

First-Party Data Mastery dropped to 19% from 36% in November 2024, as marketers shifted focus from long-term infrastructure to near-term performance. Creative Testing and Analysis fell to 21% from 32%. Experimental/Innovation Budgets dropped to 13% from 22%.

Generative AI use cases: data analysis leads, technical uses decline

The November 2025 survey of 1,472 respondents tracked current generative AI usage across marketing functions.

Data Analysis and Market Research tied at the top with 43% each. Data Analysis had been at 47% in May 2025 and 47% in November 2024. Market Research was at 46% in May 2025 and 38% in November 2024.

The H2 2026 report records Data Analysis adoption at 50%, up from 43% in the H1 period. Usage for creative development and personalization increased more than 50% year over year, according to Mediaocean.

Creative Development entered the tracked set at 33% in the November 2025 data. Campaign Optimization appeared at 31%. Copywriting was at 29%, down from 34% in May 2025. Image Generation stood at 23%. Creative Personalization debuted at 23%. Campaign Orchestration entered tracking at 19%.

Customer Service came in at 13%, down from 14% in May 2025. SEO reached 10%. Classification Taxonomies registered 9%.

The two steepest declines were in technical categories. Website Development fell to 6%, down from 12% in November 2024. Software Coding dropped to 8% from 11% in May 2025.

Barriers to AI adoption: data and integration top the list

A single-wave survey of 320 respondents conducted in November 2025 asked what barriers are preventing broader AI adoption in marketing workflows.

Data Quality or Access Issues ranked first at 42%. Difficulty Connecting AI Insights Across Multiple Systems followed at 41%. Brand Safety or Compliance Concerns came in at 40%. Integration Challenges with Existing Tech Stack registered 39%. Ethical or Governance Concerns stood at 36%. Lack of Internal Expertise reached 31%. Cost or ROI Uncertainty came in at 27%.

According to Aaron Goldman, CMO of Mediaocean: "The question now is how AI gets operationalized across planning, activation, measurement, and optimization. What this research shows is that marketers are moving beyond experimentation and looking for practical ways to connect intelligence with execution."

Orchestration gap: 86% say it matters, 10% have achieved it

The November 2025 survey of 320 respondents measured how unified ad tech systems currently are across channels including CTV, social, display, and retail media.

10% reported systems fully unified across all channels. 34% reported mostly unified with some gaps. 48% described their environment as partially unified with significant silos remaining. 8% reported no unification at all.

Despite that fragmentation, 53% of the same respondents called cross-channel orchestration extremely important. An additional 33% called it somewhat important. The combined figure of 86% considering orchestration important sits against a reality in which only 1 in 10 has achieved it.

The top concern across the 2026 media and marketing landscape was Fragmentation Across Platforms and Publishers, cited by 56% of respondents in the November 2025 data. Complexity of Cross-Channel Measurement and Optimization followed at 49%.

Three AI-specific concerns entered the top five for the first time in that survey: Balancing AI Adoption with Brand Safety, Accuracy, and Creative Control at 43%; Managing AI-Driven Automation Without Losing Human Oversight at 42%; and Uncertainty Around AI Governance and Compliance at 38%.

Reach and frequency management concerns declined from 38% to 30%, a shift Mediaocean attributes to attention moving toward structural causes - system silos and inconsistent signals - rather than the surface symptoms.

Brand Safety and Control registered 32%. Ensuring Responsible and Transparent Use of AI in Advertising came in at 30%. Interoperability Gaps Across the Ad Tech Stack reached 29%. Consumer Ad Avoidance/Ad Blindness fell to 24%, down from 41% in May 2025 and 37% in November 2024. Lack of Preparedness for a Cookieless, Privacy-Restricted Future declined to 23%, from 31% in May 2025 and 39% in November 2024. Talent Retention/Access to Expertise registered 22%. Loss of Access to Third-Party Data came in at 21%, down sharply from 34% in May 2025. Leveraging Advanced Creative at Scale registered 18%.

Cross-period data comparison: H1 to H2 shift

Comparing the November 2025 H1 data with the H2 May 2026 field results shows four measurable movements.

AI media spend intentions moved from 54% planning increases (November 2025) to 60% (May 2026). That is a 6 percentage point gain in a single survey cycle for a category that did not exist as a tracked line item in surveys prior to the current year.

AI data analysis adoption moved from 43% (November 2025) to 50% (May 2026). The category has held the top position across every tracked period, but the acceleration in the most recent wave is the steepest recorded.

AI as major workflow transformation driver moved from 28% (prior period) to 19% (May 2026) - an 9 percentage point decline. Mediaocean frames this as a pragmatism shift rather than disillusionment: practitioners are finding specific use cases rather than expecting organization-wide transformation.

CTV investment intention sits at 89% planning to maintain or increase in the H2 data. The November 2025 data showed 63% planning to increase and 26% planning to maintain - a combined 89% holding or growing, consistent with the H2 figure.

The November 2025 survey tracked three waves of data for most capability and trend metrics: November 2024, May 2025, and November 2025. The resulting year-over-year comparisons show Privacy rising 33% between May 2025 and November 2025, reaching 24%. Automation held relatively stable across the three periods at 28-30%, avoiding the steep swings seen in categories like First-Party Data Mastery (which fell from 36% to 19% over twelve months) and Creative Testing and Analysis (which fell from 32% to 21%).

The H2 2026 report adds that 35% of respondents are moving away from manual spreadsheet-based workflows in favor of API-driven automation and direct-to-publisher transactions. 89% plan to maintain or increase investment in CTV.

PPC Land has tracked the H1 findings since their January 2026 release. The orchestration gap documented across both editions connects directly to infrastructure developments the publication has followed, including Mediaocean's NIVO AI launch on June 11 - which reported 90% workflow efficiency gains in pilots - and Prisma Direct's announcement with Disney targeting direct CTV transaction automation for Q3 2026.

A webinar on the H2 findings is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2026, from 12 to 1 p.m. ET, featuring Goldman, Chris Costello of Sixteenth Note Analytics, and Innovid's Megan Gall.

Timeline

  • Late 2021: Mediaocean publishes the first edition of its bi-annual market report series.
  • January 13, 2025: Mediaocean releases 2025 H1 Advertising Outlook Report, finding 86% of advertisers lack synchronization between creative and media processes; automation is the only capability showing increased prioritization.
  • November 2024: Mediaocean acquires Innovid for $500 million, merging it with Flashtalking.
  • November 2025: Mediaocean surveys 320 marketing professionals for the 2026 H1 report.
  • January 25, 2026: Mediaocean releases 2026 H1 Advertising Outlook Report - 54% of marketers plan to increase AI media investment, surpassing search for the first time; only 10% report fully unified ad tech systems.
  • January 2026: Basis and Mediaocean announce workflow integration connecting Basis's platform with Prisma, Innovid, and Protected.
  • March 31, 2026: Mediaocean announces Prisma Direct for direct CTV transactions, with Disney as first partner; Q3 2026 go-live target.
  • April 14, 2026: Basis embeds Protected by Mediaocean for live AI verification inside campaign activation.
  • May 2026: Mediaocean surveys 312 marketing professionals for the 2026 H2 Market Report.
  • June 11, 2026: Mediaocean announces NIVO AI with Innovid agents; pilots report up to 90% workflow efficiency gains vs. manual campaign setup.
  • June 16, 2026: Mediaocean releases 2026 H2 Market Report - AI media fastest-growing investment category at 60%; data analysis AI adoption reaches 50%; 89% plan to maintain or increase CTV investment.
  • July 14, 2026: Mediaocean webinar on H2 report findings, 12-1 p.m. ET.

Summary

Who: Mediaocean surveyed 312 marketing professionals in May 2026 - brands, agencies, media companies, and technology providers.

What: The 2026 H2 Market Report, the tenth in the series, documents AI media as the fastest-growing investment category at 60%; AI data analysis adoption at 50%; CTV at 89% maintaining or increasing; 35% shifting from manual spreadsheets to API-driven automation; and the orchestration gap holding at 86% importance vs. 10% full unification achieved.

When: Survey conducted May 2026; report released June 16, 2026; webinar July 14, 2026.

Where: Survey conducted globally through SurveyMonkey. Report available at mediaocean.com.

Why: The data matters because it quantifies where AI adoption has actually moved since the H1 report - from aspirational to operational in specific use cases - while the orchestration and integration gaps remain largely unresolved. The barriers ranking (data quality at 42%, cross-system integration at 41%) indicates where marketing infrastructure investment needs to go in the second half of 2026.