State of Digital Advertising 2026: AI Integration and Streaming Growth

US digital advertising reached roughly $201 billion between August 2025 and July 2026, up 15% year over year, with more than 19 trillion impressions (+7%). The analysis argues that generative AI, conversational search advertising, and the shift toward streaming are reshaping how marketers allocate budgets and produce creative. Coverage is focused on the US market over a twelve-month window, with some comparisons stretching back to early 2024.

Social platforms still take the largest share of budgets, with Facebook the top US ad channel at $42.9 billion. Shopping remains the leading category at nearly a quarter of spend, ahead of Consumer Packaged Goods and Health & Wellness. Procter & Gamble is the top advertiser, followed by Amazon.com and The Walt Disney Company.

AI is now central to creative production. Gaming advertisers increased unique ad creatives by 54% year over year, ahead of Food & Dining (+26%), Financial Services (+21%), and Media & Entertainment (+19%), while Shopping kept the highest total volume (+7%). ChatGPT broadened its ad footprint, showing ads on a higher share of prompts from June 2026. Its impression mix diversified quickly: Shopping fell from 36.5% in April to 20.9% in August, while Financial Services rose nearly eightfold to 12.6%, Travel & Tourism reached 10.3%, and Health & Wellness grew from 0.7% to 5.1%.

In video, spending continues to move toward connected TV. US OTT ad spend hit $12 billion in the first seven months of 2026 (+17%), outpacing YouTube (+6%) while Linear TV declined 3%. Linear TV lost impression share between Q1 2024 and Q2 2026 in Telecom (-16 points to 44%), Travel (-12 to 35%), Financial Services (-10 to 36%), and Food & Dining (-10 to 48%). Telecom more than doubled its OTT share to 26%, and Auto, Health & Wellness, and Food & Dining each gained about 8 points. The full report also covers social, retail media, and major 2026 events such as the World Cup and holiday peaks.