What Publishers Need to Know About Ad Tech in 2026
AI, Attention, and Ad Spend: Why 2026 Will Be a Pivotal Year for Publishers
In 2025, publishers have navigated a landscape defined by shifting content consumption habits, volatile digital advertising, and the powerful influence of major platforms, now amplified by emerging AI-driven ecosystems. The pressures that shaped the year will continue to surface, although relying on familiar approaches is no longer sustainable. The year ahead asks publishers to examine the foundations of their businesses and adapt with intention.
The ad tech industry has always evolved in response to these pressures, looking for ways to strengthen efficiency and value across the supply chain. As 2026 approaches, that evolution is accelerating - its direction is also becoming clearer, and the forces reshaping the open web are gathering pace. Here’s how it’s shaping up…
The impact of Agentic AI on the open web
AI-powered search is altering user behaviour at scale. Many people now receive answers directly within chatbots – including Google’s AI Overview – which reduces the incentive to click through to publisher sites. This shift has created a growing “zero-click web”, and publishers have already felt the impact on traffic patterns. Advertisers are watching this closely because the changes also influence planning, bidding, and performance models.
Research found that 84% of advertisers have observed shifts in consumer behaviour away from traditional web browsing as AI-powered answer engines replace search. Stephen Upstone, CEO and Founder at LoopMe, warns that this acceleration will continue, noting that search and the open web “will not look the same” by 2026. He adds that many brands are already shifting budgets toward mobile in-app, which offers “a stable, engaged environment” that the increasingly disrupted open web cannot match.
The long-term consequences extend beyond traffic. Non-human AI crawlers have grown rapidly and publishers are carrying the cost without receiving the return. Mateusz Jędrocha, Chief Product Officer at Adlook, says publishers face “a very real economic squeeze” as machine-generated traffic consumes infrastructure without producing revenue.
“Monetising ‘machine readership’ through licensing, APIs, or revenue-share models may become essential,” Mateusz Jędrocha, Chief Product Officer, Adlook
This issue also raises the stakes for media quality. As Jędrocha notes, invalid traffic filtering is shifting “from hygiene to survival”, with budget leakage becoming inevitable for platforms that cannot separate human attention from machine activity. Yet he also sees opportunity: as informational browsing declines, “the value of each genuine human signal increases”, making high-quality open web signals more predictive for marketers with the right technology.
A new era for programmatic
The rise of AI platforms is expected to cause disruption across the programmatic supply chain. The shifts have begun, although the pace and magnitude vary. For some, what we’ve seen so far is more subtle than seismic. Emma Newman, CRO EMEA at PubMatic, points out that today’s AI agents remain largely “confined within single platforms”, streamlining interfaces without fundamentally changing the system.
But the next phase will be more transformative. Newman highlights the emergence of agent-to-agent communication through open standards like AdCP (Ad Context Protocol), enabling autonomous buyer and publisher agents to negotiate and optimise on behalf of humans. This move from automation to “true autonomy”, she says, will allow people to focus on creativity, strategy, and outcomes.
For publishers, protecting and elevating the value of their inventory remains essential. Elli Papadaki, SVP Global Supply at Onetag, stresses that programmatic buyers must use sell-side optimisation to ensure high-quality impressions, especially as GenAI prompts reshape inventory. She also emphasises the need to unify media optimisation, creative quality, and conversion data to help publishers compete more effectively with social platforms, and calls for payment processes that are “seamless” and reflective of the value publishers provide.
The data underpinning these decisions is becoming more important as marketers prepare for multi-agent workflows. Alexander Igelsböck, CEO and Co-Founder at Adverity, expects three major trends: stronger data foundations, a shift to composability through owned data warehouses, and the rise of MCPs (standardised frameworks for AI applications) to break down silos and connect AI applications with consistent context across systems.
Staying true to core fundamentals
Although the publisher house may appear under siege, the fundamentals of audience engagement are still powerful. Clicks may deliver the initial entry point, but long-term resilience comes from retaining that audience and building deeper loyalty. The value of original, trusted content remains a strong defence against the growing wave of AI-generated material.
Benjamin Lanfry, Chief Client and Partnerships Officer at Ogury, believes audiences still value “real human connection”. He argues that publishers should prioritise channels and formats that feel more “AI-proof”, where community and authenticity matter most. As generative content, or “AI slop”, floods digital platforms, he says, publishers with a clear human voice will be able to build “loyal, durable audiences”.
Trust is becoming even more influential in the advertising relationship. Marko Johns, UK Managing Director at Seedtag, stresses that quality journalism has never been more important – or more challenged – as AI content spreads. He notes that brands advertising on quality news see “1.5 times perceived trust”, yet some still avoid news environments in pursuit of “zero-risk” placements. As the use of AI tools grows, the journalist’s role as a gatekeeper of accuracy becomes even more essential.
There is also a performance dimension. Johns highlights neuroscience research showing that “neuro-contextual advertising, which matches ads to an article’s interest, intent and tone, delivers 3.5 times higher neural engagement”. In 2026, advertisers prioritising quality partnerships will win on both trust and performance.
Buyers are already moving in that direction. Joseph Worswick, VP Buyer Development EMEA/APAC at OpenX, says recent years have seen “misaligned incentives” and dilution of quality in pursuit of cheap reach. He anticipates a shift back toward thoughtful curation as MFA content and invalid traffic force advertisers to be more intentional about where budgets flow. “Bigger isn’t always better,” he says; “better is better.”
Betting on format diversification
Publishers are widening their format strategies, exploring video, newsletters, audio, and interactive experiences. These investments diversify revenue streams, but more importantly, they reflect how audiences prefer to engage: through personal, editorially grounded formats.
Benjamin Lanfry highlights the opportunity in personality-driven formats and vertical video, noting that “talking head analysis, point of view reporting, and explainers” allow publishers to build direct relationships without relying on search.
Alongside this, formats that deepen on-site engagement will become more valuable. Ben Pheloung, General Manager at Mantis, notes growing use of AI search results and aggregators, making it essential for publishers to keep people engaged on-site. He points to carousel units as one example “already succeeding in encouraging deeper engagement without pushing users elsewhere”, affirming that “2026 will be a defining year for AI and its impact on content discovery and distribution.”
Pheloung adds that major events such as the World Cup and elections will increase sensitivity around misinformation, making contextual understanding more important for brand safety and alignment.
“Publishers who can package their inventory in a way that delivers suitable audiences and context will position themselves as indispensable partners,” Ben Pheloung, General Manager, Mantis
These shifts echo broader changes across the open web. As Jędrocha notes, more time is being spent in immersive ecosystems like streaming, gaming, and hobby-focused apps, and “winning strategies will use these deeper open web intent signals at scale.”
Final takeaways
The forces shaping 2026 are converging. AI-powered search continues to alter traffic flows. Economic pressure on publishers is intensifying. Programmatic systems are moving toward autonomous operation. Data foundations are becoming essential. Meanwhile, the value of trust, editorial integrity, and audience connection is rising, not falling.
Publishers who steer confidently through this moment will likely share a few traits. They will invest in quality, embrace formats that strengthen direct relationships, build data strategies that support long-term adaptability, and scrutinise traffic and protect their inventory. Above all, they will lean into what only they can deliver: trusted content, strong communities, and environments where advertisers know their investment creates real value.