Television advertising used to be priced on the assumption that an impression was an impression. A third-quarter snapshot from iSpot, examined by PPC Land on Monday, October 26, suggests that assumption has quietly collapsed: streaming now takes almost half of what American advertisers spend on national television while delivering little more than a fifth of the ads people actually see. The gap is not a measurement curiosity. It is a price, and on Monday a run of companies, from Pinterest to an Indian-listed ad tech group to a healthcare software firm, showed how many are now trying to collect it.

The day's news ran in two directions at once. Platforms that once kept their inventory behind their own walls opened it to outside buyers, betting that programmatic demand would fill the gap left by slowing growth. At the same time, the gatekeepers of search tightened what they will index and show, and a regulator in Brazil and a competitor in Britain argued over what users should be told and offered. In between sat a small shift at Amazon that sellers fear will turn a convenience into an obligation.

The price of a streaming impression

PPC Land reported that streaming takes 48.7% of US TV ad spend on 21.9% of impressions, iSpot finds, in an article published at 19:52 UTC on October 26. The figures come from iSpot's eight-page TV and Video Ad Snapshot for the quarter from July 1 to September 30, 2026, covering US national television. Streaming took 48.74% of estimated spend and 21.93% of impressions; linear took 51.26% of spend and 78.07% of impressions. On PPC Land's arithmetic, that implies a streaming impression costs about 3.4 times a linear one.

iSpot's own summary is blunt: "Linear still has the audience. Streaming now has nearly half the budget." But the route to near-parity matters. Reading iSpot's unlabelled quarterly chart, PPC Land estimates linear spend fell to about $7.9 billion in the third quarter, down roughly 10% on a year earlier and 11% on the second quarter, while streaming held at about $7.5 billion, slightly lower than a year before. Combined spending of about $15.5 billion was down about 7%, despite a quarter that included the closing weeks of the World Cup. Near-parity, in other words, came from linear shrinking rather than streaming growing.

The case for streaming's premium rests on outcomes. Across 30 brands that iSpot selected, measured over a 14-day window, streaming converted at 3.49% against 0.69% for linear, about five times higher. Every one of the 30 converted at a higher rate on streaming. Yet 15 of them still drew more total conversions from linear, because linear reached so many more people. "Linear still drives significant conversions, but only by standard demographic cuts," the report states. There is no control group, no cost per conversion and no published list of the 50 streaming apps and 187 linear channels compared.

The spenders at the top tell their own story. The ten biggest national TV advertisers spent about $1.35 billion in the quarter, 53.3% of it on streaming. Two pharmaceutical brands, Eli Lilly's oral GLP-1 Foundayo and the psoriasis treatment ICOTYDE, spent $104.8 million and $92.3 million respectively, together $197.2 million, against "just over $5 million" in the second quarter. On creative, iSpot singled out GEICO, Kit Kat, USAA and Universal Studios Hollywood, and observed that "Ad reach is great, but Likeability is even better."

Pinterest opens its doors to outside buyers

If streaming's premium shows what targeted inventory can command, Pinterest is betting that outside buyers will pay for its version. Adweek's Trishla Ostwal reported at 11:00 UTC on October 26 that Pinterest opens its inventory to programmatic buyers, with Magnite as its main pipe. Pinterest announced general availability of Programmatic Deals, making display and video inventory available through private marketplaces and preferred deals, with programmatic guaranteed still in testing. Adweek tied the timing to growth: Pinterest guided to third-quarter revenue growth of 13% to 15%, against 18% in the second quarter.

PPC Land added detail later that evening, reporting at 20:13 UTC that Pinterest sells ads through Amazon and Google DSPs in three regions, not Europe. The named buying platforms are Amazon Ads DVA+, Google Display & Video 360, Yahoo DSP and DeepIntent. Magnite is the primary supply-side partner, with Google Ad Manager handling supply in Latin America and Asia Pacific, and Pinterest inventory also sits in Magnite Orchestration, launched in beta on June 11. Access runs through Pinterest's sales representatives rather than self-serve.

"Pinterest captures the moment when people are figuring out what they want to try, buy or do next," said Jason Fairchild, Pinterest's general manager of programmatic and affiliate, who also runs tvScientific, the connected TV firm Pinterest bought for $465.1 million in a deal that closed on February 17. Sean Buckley, Magnite's president of revenue and market strategy, said: "Pinterest offers a unique understanding of what people are interested in and what they may buy next."

Europe's absence is the most conspicuous gap. Pinterest gave no reason and no date. The numbers suggest one possible explanation: in the second quarter, Pinterest earned $8.30 in average revenue per user in the US and Canada, against $1.35 in Europe and $0.23 in the rest of the world. Nothing was disclosed on prices, floors, fees, country lists or how intent signals are shared across the open web, and The Trade Desk was not named among the buyers. The only case study, a single Moroccanoil campaign measured with Amazon's internal data in June, reported 15% incremental reach and 63% more new-to-brand buyers, with no baseline or controls.

Selling television like an app install

The logic of paying for outcomes rather than impressions, which underpins streaming's premium, is being pushed further down the funnel. AdExchanger's Allison Schiff reported at 14:00 UTC on October 26 that Affle, a mobile ad tech holding company, wants to sell CTV ads like app installs. Affle, based in Singapore and listed in India with a market capitalisation above $2 billion, launched MediasmartTV, a self-serve connected TV platform inside its Mediasmart DSP, priced on cost per converted user. Advertisers pay only when a household exposed to an ad later installs an app or makes a purchase, confirmed by a postback.

"Every dollar an advertiser spends should drive some kind of outcome, including on connected TV," said Sameer Sondhi, Affle's North America chief executive, who joined in 2026 from Verve Group. The obstacle is identity. "We don't have a cookie and we don't have device IDs from the TV side," he said, so households are matched through IP addresses, devices on shared Wi-Fi and consented data. Supply comes from Magnite, PubMatic, Index Exchange and FreeWheel, plus LG and Samsung, and Affle claims more than one trillion monthly US ad opportunities. The company plans to start with gaming apps and independent agencies. It published no performance data, has no direct publisher integrations, and conceded the market needs convincing: "There needs to be a lot more education around this." Sondhi was less diplomatic about the industry's favourite diagram: "I really do hate the upper-funnel, mid-funnel, lower-funnel pyramid."

Healthcare offered another unusual venue. AdExchanger's James Hercher reported at 09:11 UTC on October 26 that OptimizeRx is going programmatic. The company, which sells software that plugs into doctors' prescribing and electronic health record systems, struck a programmatic partnership with The Trade Desk, following a banner deal with the healthcare DSP DeepIntent earlier in the year. The inventory is ads inside physicians' record portals at the point of care, targeted by National Provider Identifier, a number that stays with a doctor for an entire career. More than 99% of OptimizeRx's ad business comes from prescription drug brands. Maria Cipicchio, senior vice-president of strategic market intelligence, pointed to a broader market: "Every skincare product wants a doctor to recommend their product." Claims that the ads are fully viewable and free of bots are the company's own.

Identity under the Safari shadow

Outcome-based pricing depends on recognising the same person or household twice, which is why identity providers keep stitching new signals into their audiences. PPC Land reported at 19:47 UTC on October 26 that Ströer's OS Data Solutions adds the Utiq telco ID to audiences on three platforms. The Hamburg-based subsidiary announced on LinkedIn that the Utiq identifier, issued by a company owned by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone, now enriches its audience segments. "The enhanced audiences are available immediately via Active Agent, The Trade Desk, and the curation platform Equativ," the post said, with Adform to follow "early next year".

"Utiq adds a powerful deterministic signal to our data foundation," said Tobias Emmer, OSDS managing director. Utiq checks eligibility through a visitor's IP address, has the mobile operator match it to an account and issues two passes, a 90-day martechpass and a 24-hour adtechpass, only with consent given site by site. OSDS claims more than 50 million unique users and more than 1,500 standard segments; Utiq claims 70 million users in six markets. No match rate, reach or pricing was disclosed. PPC Land placed the announcement against Safari's iOS 27 block list, which includes two ID5 domains, though OSDS gave no reason for its timing.

Who sells, and who leads

The consolidation of television ownership is producing new sales structures. Adweek's Bill Bradley reported at 22:41 UTC on October 26 that the Skydance ads boss revealed a new leadership team. Jay Askinasi, who runs advertising at Skydance, the company that combines Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery after a $110 billion merger, named his team in a staff memo obtained by Adweek. Danielle Carney, who left Amazon for Paramount earlier in 2026 and led its upfront, becomes head of US sales. Two Warner Bros. Discovery ad sales leaders, Ryan Gould and Bobby Voltaggio, leave after the merger. Much of the remaining list sits behind Adweek's paywall.

Agency ownership is shifting too, though in a different direction. Adweek's Alison Weissbrot reported at 10:00 UTC on October 26 on Ndidi Oteh's growth plan for Accenture Song. Oteh has been global chief executive of the consultancy's $20 billion marketing arm since September 2025. Her plan centres on a $1 billion agentic commerce pipeline, the acquisition of the creator marketing firm Whalar and an interest in media. Accenture Song has bought more than 70 agencies, and David Droga, who sold Droga5 to Accenture in 2019, is now executive chairman.

Holiday stories, told with puppets and a comedian

For brands, the fourth quarter is when the premium inventory gets used. Adweek's Brittaney Kiefer reported at 10:00 UTC on October 26 that Walmart brings the Muppets and Walton Goggins together for its own holiday carol. The campaign, part of Walmart's "Who Knew?" platform and made with Disney and The Muppets Studio, reworks The Muppet Christmas Carol of 1992, with Goggins as Scrooge and three new spirits: the Ghost of Christmas Presents, the Ghost of Deals to Come and the Ghost of Christmas Fast, standing for product range, discounts and express delivery. It debuted on October 26; no agency or spend was disclosed.

Sephora went with a comedian. Adweek's Rebecca Stewart reported at 16:40 UTC on October 26 that Seth Rogen checks off his gift list in Sephora's holiday campaign. The campaign, "We All Sephora", sends Rogen shopping with Sephora's beauty advisers to make the case that anyone can give beauty as a gift. The hero ad was developed by the independent agency Gut New York and directed by Jason Woliner, and the campaign runs in the US and Canada.

Some brands are widening the audience rather than the budget. Adweek's Weissbrot also reported, at 10:00 UTC, on how Strava's CMO is winning over walkers without losing hardcore runners. Louisa Wee, who joined Strava in 2025 from subscription marketing roles at Netflix, Pluto TV and FabFitFun, is pushing the app toward everyday walkers and wellness users. Strava, launched in 2009 as a GPS tool, now covers more than 50 sports, 200 million users and more than 185 countries. "A lot of these people aren't singularly runners or cyclists," Wee said. "They are showing more diversified, active lives."

Where brands buy premium attention, publishers are trying to rebuild the audiences that used to arrive from search. Adweek's Mark Stenberg reported at 12:00 UTC on October 26 that as search traffic falls, Motherly bets on social video and live events. The parenting publisher, about ten years old, is shifting toward vertical video, podcasts, WhatsApp group chats and in-person events, and away from commerce that depended on search. Chief executive Sharon Yi, who joined from Future, expects seven-figure revenue from events, video and podcasts this year. The publisher also released a State of Motherhood report built on eight years of data from more than 60,000 mothers, launched at an invitation-only event in New York with a fireside chat featuring Jennifer Garner.

Google's own feeds offered publishers little comfort. Search Engine Roundtable's Barry Schwartz reported at 11:21 UTC on October 26 that Google Discover tests disabling clicks in the sources section of its AI summary cards. Until now, tapping the sources button at the bottom of a summary opened a mini-feed of the articles behind it. Damien Andell, who spotted the test on October 23, shared a feature flag named disable_aio_sources_button_tap. "Google Discover has just started a test on AI summaries," he wrote, adding: "Disabling clicks on sources." Schwartz could not replicate it and asked whether it was a bug. Google has not commented, and the scope of the test is unknown.

Google narrows what gets indexed

Google also redrew the boundary between the open web and pages never meant to be found. Schwartz reported at 19:15 UTC on October 26 that Google warns tools on user-generated spam guidance, and PPC Land followed at 22:33 UTC, reporting that Google tells platforms to noindex link-shared pages by default. Google revised its Search Central guide on preventing user-generated spam on October 26. Its scope now extends beyond comment forms and hosting services to tools that let users publish shared pages, generated content and web apps.

A new section titled "Only index content meant for Search" says pages built for direct sharing, collaboration or utility should default to noindex, through a robots meta tag or an X-Robots-Tag header, or be blocked in robots.txt. The guide adds monitoring advice: verify sites and subdomains in Search Console, watch the Page Indexing and Search performance reports for spikes, and track platform-level creation and indexing with alerts. Google's changelog explained the purpose as helping "platforms keep user-created pages that aren't meant for Search out of the index and detect spam earlier."

The trigger is not hard to guess. PPC Land listed more than 370,000 Grok conversations indexed in 2025 and more than 6,800 Meta Muse share hostnames found in passive DNS records, alongside reports of vibe-coded apps exposing data. Lily Ray, the SEO consultant, called the change "Another clue from Google about new types of spam they are dealing with," and speculated that AI artifacts and generated pages could be affected. Marie Haynes asked whether new manual actions were coming. Google named no services and stated no enforcement. There is also a technical catch PPC Land pointed out: robots.txt blocks crawling, not indexing, so a blocked page can still be indexed if others link to it, and a crawler that cannot fetch the page will never see its noindex tag. Whether Google's own Opal and Playground pages follow the advice has not been established.

A choice screen, and who gets left out

Search competition in Britain produced its own dispute. PPC Land reported at 19:58 UTC on October 26 that DuckDuckGo says the UK choice screen plan leaves 30 million Android phones out. In a response to the Competition and Markets Authority dated October 14 and promoted on LinkedIn on October 26 by Aurélien Mähl of its public policy team, DuckDuckGo argued that the regulator's revised design, published in September, favours Google and large AI apps. The draft allows up to 12 providers; if more qualify, five are chosen by popularity and seven at random. The annual non-skippable screen becomes a skippable notification tied to major Android or Chrome updates, and devices already in use would largely never see a choice moment.

"A skippable notification is not an annual choice screen," DuckDuckGo wrote. On eligibility, Mähl warned: "Eligibility for AI is easy to game without hard data to prove search usage." DuckDuckGo wants eight fixed and four random slots, or six of each, and cites its own figures, including a threefold rise in selection in France after it moved into a fixed top-five position. Google holds more than 90% of UK general search, and the CMA put UK search advertising revenue at £10 billion to £20 billion in 2024. The response is advocacy by a direct competitor, its performance figures have no published method, and the CMA's final decision is expected by the end of 2026.

Microsoft trims, and refreshes its shop front

Microsoft's advertising business made two smaller appearances. PPC News Feed reported at 07:00 UTC on October 26 that Microsoft Advertising launched a redesigned website, spotted by Hana Kobzová. The homepage at about.ads.microsoft.com, previously centred on a login form, now features "a modern layout, updated navigation, and a stronger focus on its advertising solutions," with sign-in moved to the top navigation. The page now aims at new advertisers, claiming reach of more than a billion people across 187 markets and eight properties, among them Bing, Edge, LinkedIn, Outlook, Copilot, MSN, Windows and Xbox. Microsoft made no statement.

The same day, the parent company offered some staff a way out. PPC Land reported at 17:09 UTC that Microsoft offers exit packages to staff in four countries. Amy Coleman, executive vice-president and chief people officer, announced a time-limited Voluntary Exit Offer for employees at level 70 and below in participating teams in Canada, India, the UK and the US. "The Voluntary Exit Offer is new for us," she wrote. "This builds on what we learned earlier this year through the Voluntary Retirement Program." Microsoft gave no payment terms, deadlines, headcount or team names, so it is not known whether Microsoft Advertising is included. The backdrop is spending: capital expenditure reached $41.0 billion in the quarter to June 30, up 70%, while search advertising growth excluding traffic acquisition costs slowed to 10%, as PPC Land reported when Microsoft's search ad growth dropped to 10% as Azure topped $100 billion.

Amazon tests a live line to sellers

Amazon's change was small and unannounced. PPC Land reported at 16:19 UTC on October 26 that Amazon tests real-time chat between sellers and shoppers in Seller Central. A toggle labelled "Enable Real-Time Chat", carrying a blue "Beta" badge, appeared in the Buyer Messages section, spotted by Will Haire, co-founder of BellaVix, on LinkedIn, and by a seller posting as "Old-Timer" on Amazon's forum. Live answers before a purchase could lift conversion on listings that sellers are paying to advertise.

Sellers were wary. "Amazon has a habit of turning useful features into performance expectations," said Lesley Hensell, who helps suspended sellers get reinstated. "The real question is what happens when a seller misses a message." Amazon already measures response within 24 hours as part of account health. With Black Friday on November 27, Amazon has published no help page, announcement or eligibility details.

Brazil's regulator and a list that should never have existed

The day's starkest privacy story came from Brazil. PPC Land reported at 20:18 UTC on October 26 that Feira de Santana faces six ANPD warnings for naming 611 people with HIV. An investigation report by Brazil's data protection authority, signed on October 9, found that the city's official gazette published ordinances naming 1,241 people by medical condition, with full names and card numbers: 611 with HIV or AIDS, 346 with fibromyalgia and 284 with sickle cell anaemia. The lists arose from litigation over free bus passes, and a lawyer retained by the bus operators' association Via Feira drafted the ordinances and sent them from a personal email address.

The report recommends six warnings, all classed as serious, corrective measures and a notice on the city's homepage for six months. A fine is not possible, because Brazilian data law excludes fines for public bodies. The city attempted to notify only 22 of the 1,241 people, 1.77%, and never informed the regulator, which learned of the leak through a complaint. "Many of the people affected had not revealed their condition even to family members," said Josefa Faria dos Anjos, president of an association for people living with HIV, quoted in the report. The ANPD added that "the discriminatory potential does not require an explicit intention to discriminate." The findings remain a recommendation pending a first-instance decision, and the report contains several internal inconsistencies.

It is a reminder of what the industry's identity plumbing ultimately handles. Streaming commands its premium because it can tell one household from another; Utiq and Affle promise to recognise the same person twice; Pinterest sells the moment someone decides what to buy. The value of all of it rests on data that, in the wrong hands or the wrong gazette, becomes something else entirely. And that is why the rules about who sees what, from Google's index to Brazil's regulator, keep tightening around the same assets the market is learning to price.

By the numbers

3.49%
Streaming conversion rate across 30 iSpot brands, against 0.69% for linear, in Q3 2026.
iSpot snapshot

$8.30
Pinterest's second-quarter revenue per user in the US and Canada, against $1.35 in Europe.
Pinterest DSPs

1,241
People named by medical condition in Feira de Santana's gazette, 611 of them with HIV.
ANPD report

30 million
Android phones in use that DuckDuckGo says would never see the UK choice screen.
DuckDuckGo response

1,500
Standard audience segments OS Data Solutions offers, now enriched with the Utiq telco identifier.
OSDS and Utiq