Press Releases May 12, 2026 09:00 AM

New Study Finds 76% of Advertisers See Performance Gains from Agentic AI; 86% Would Allocate Up to a Quarter of Advertising Budget to the Open Web with the Right Agentic AI Solution

Taboola's new research reveals strong advertiser gains from agentic AI and growing demand for AI-powered solutions on the open web.

By Ajmal Hussain TBLA

Taboola released a study showing that 76% of advertisers have experienced performance improvements from agentic AI, predominantly within search and social platforms. However, 80% of advertisers are eager to expand AI-driven advertising beyond walled gardens to the open web, with 86% willing to allocate up to 25% of their budgets accordingly. The company has launched Realize+, an AI-driven product aimed at scaling performance advertising outside traditional platforms, addressing integration challenges faced especially by large advertisers.

New Study Finds 76% of Advertisers See Performance Gains from Agentic AI; 86% Would Allocate Up to a Quarter of Advertising Budget to the Open Web with the Right Agentic AI Solution
TBLA

Key Points

  • 76% of advertisers report meaningful performance uplift from AI advertising, primarily on search and social platforms.
  • There is strong advertiser demand to apply agentic AI performance benefits to the open web, with 86% willing to allocate up to a quarter of ad budgets.
  • Taboola's Realize+ AI solution aims to meet this demand by offering real-time spend reallocation and automated creative generation.
  • Large advertisers face integration challenges adopting agentic AI, impeding broader usage.

NEW YORK, May 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taboola (Nasdaq: TBLA), a global leader in delivering performance at scale for advertisers, today announced new research highlighting growing advertiser adoption of AI-powered solutions and increasing interest in applying these capabilities beyond walled gardens.

While agentic AI has driven strong performance gains in search and social, marketers are increasingly focused on unlocking incremental growth beyond those channels—especially in environments that can offer similar AI-powered automation. The new study, titled, The Agentic Advantage in Performance Marketing: Securing Incremental Growth Beyond Search and Socialexplores how advertisers are approaching performance in an increasingly AI-driven landscape.

Key insights from the research include:

  • Agentic AI is delivering performance advertising wins, but the benefits are confined to the walled gardens. A significant 76% of advertisers are already seeing meaningful performance uplift from AI-powered solutions, primarily on search and social platforms.
  • Performance advertisers feel trapped with Agentic AI on search and social. The vast majority (80%) state they would immediately increase their ad spend on the open web if comparable agentic solutions existed, with 86% willing to allocate up to a quarter of their performance budget to the shift.
  • The biggest advertisers are struggling the most with agentic AI. The number one challenge for advertisers adopting agentic AI is integrating it into existing workflows, but the struggle is disproportionately felt by large advertisers. Only 9% of advertisers spending $300K–$499K per month cite integration as a barrier, compared to a large 74% of companies spending $1M–$4.9M per month who call it the dominant roadblock.

“Advertisers of all sizes are leaning into agentic advertising, and the results are following. Our research shows a clear demand for advertisers that want the same "always-on," AI-driven performance they see in walled gardens applied to the open web, however,” said Adam Singolda, CEO of Taboola. “They are looking for autonomous systems that learn continuously, pivot in real time, and turn every impression into a measurable outcome.”

In April 2026, Taboola announced Realize+, an agentic solution that uses its supply, first-party data, and AI to scale performance through a Decision Engine that reallocates spend in real time and an Element Generator that automates creative and targeting. The company has now rolled out the Realize+ beta to help advertisers drive outcomes at scale.

About Taboola
Taboola empowers businesses to grow through performance advertising technology that goes beyond search and social and delivers measurable outcomes at scale.

Taboola works with thousands of businesses who advertise directly on Realize, Taboola’s powerful ad platform, reaching approximately 600M daily active users across some of the best publishers in the world. Publishers like NBC News, Yahoo, and OEMs such as Samsung, Xiaomi and others use Taboola’s technology to grow audience and revenue, enabling Realize to offer unique data, specialized algorithms, and unmatched scale.

Disclaimer – Forward-Looking Statements
Taboola (the “Company”) may, in this communication, make certain statements that are not historical facts and relate to analysis or other information which are based on forecasts or future or results. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future prospects, product development and business strategies. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means for identifying such statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there are risks that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. You should understand that a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements, including the risks set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 under Part 1, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

*Study methodology: Survey of 200 senior performance marketers at large advertisers and agencies representing organizations with monthly budgets of $500K–$4.9M.


Risks

  • Execution risk surrounding successful rollout and adoption of Realize+ in a competitive ad tech environment.
  • Dependence on continued advertiser willingness to shift budgets from established search and social platforms to open web AI solutions.
  • Forward-looking statements caution on potential for business or market conditions to differ materially from projections.

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