Advertising is approaching a tipping point few in the industry expected this fast. A new global survey of 2,020 marketers, published on November 9, found that 97% plan to use artificial intelligence somewhere in media planning, buying or optimization this year. Yet the same report shows adoption is anything but uniform, and trust in the technology, not its price tag, is now the biggest factor deciding which tools survive inside marketing teams.
The report, titled “Beyond the Hype: The Real State of AI in Digital Advertising,” was produced by ad-verification firm DoubleVerify and is one of the largest surveys of its kind this year. It paints a picture of an industry moving well past experimentation, while still struggling to turn AI pilots into dependable, scaled workflows.
Adoption is real, but far from universal
Behind the headline figure, the pace of real-world use is more modest than the ambition. The share of marketers using AI for media-brief summarization rose from 28% in 2024 to 37% in 2025, with 40% expected this year. Campaign activation followed a similar curve, climbing from 31% to 35%, while AI-assisted mid-flight optimization jumped ten points in a single year, from 21% to 31%. Each workflow is forecast to reach roughly 36-40% adoption by the end of 2026 — a steady climb, not the overnight takeover some vendors have promised.
Where AI is already in place, the results are hard to dismiss: 98% of marketers using AI-powered bidding reported measurable performance gains. That statistic helps explain why budgets keep shifting toward automated buying even as broader adoption lags behind stated intentions.
Trust now outranks cost
Perhaps the most telling finding is what marketers say they actually weigh before adopting a new AI tool. Accuracy and effectiveness topped the list at 35%, followed closely by data privacy and security at 29% — tied with cost and ROI, also at 29%. In other words, trust and reliability now compete directly with price when budgets are allocated, a reversal from a few years ago when cost dominated every procurement conversation.
That shift matters because it is unfolding during one of the most expensive stretches of the advertising calendar. According to industry tracking of holiday ad budgets, 55% of advertisers plan to increase their 2026 holiday spending, up from 44% a year earlier, even as rising media costs rank as marketers’ top stressor heading into the season. Retailers are already stretching Black Friday into a month of early deals to capture spending before it is spread too thin, which only raises the pressure on every dollar of ad spend to perform.
Why this matters beyond the ad industry
- Bigger budgets, less patience: marketers are demanding proof that AI tools actually move sales, not just efficiency metrics.
- Search is shifting under advertisers’ feet: as AI-driven overviews reshape how people find products, the gap between being cited and actually ranking is forcing brands to rethink visibility strategy entirely.
- Consumers feel the squeeze too: as ad budgets climb, so does the volume of targeted promotion arriving right as holiday shoppers tighten their own spending to essentials.
For an in-depth look at how brands are adapting their strategies, GlobalNewsExpert’s Communication & Marketing section tracks the shift week by week, while the High Tech & Digital section follows the broader AI tools reshaping how that work gets done.
Questions fréquentes
What percentage of marketers plan to use AI in advertising this year?
According to the DoubleVerify global survey of 2,020 marketers published on November 9, 2026, 97% plan to use AI in some part of media planning, buying or optimization.
Is AI adoption in advertising actually scaling as fast as the headlines suggest?
Not quite. Specific workflows like media-brief summarization and campaign activation are growing steadily, from roughly 28-31% in 2024 to a forecast 36-40% by the end of 2026, which is real progress but far short of full-scale adoption.
What do marketers care about most when choosing an AI advertising tool?
Accuracy and effectiveness rank first at 35%, with data privacy/security and cost/ROI tied at 29% each, showing that trust now weighs as heavily as price in purchasing decisions.
Sources
- Branding in Asia — DoubleVerify “Beyond the Hype” report coverage
- eMarketer — Holiday ad budgets climb as marketers demand clearer ties to sales
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence. Editorial policy
