Pixability’s Annual Global Agency Study Predicts Big Shifts in Spend and New Challenges for YouTube in 2026

Brands in the US and UK Plan to increase YouTube investment as a Core TV/CTV channel, with Shorts adoption also accelerating

BOSTON, Jan. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixability, the leader in AI-driven advertising and insights on YouTube, today released findings from its fifth annual survey of U.S. and U.K. media agency executives, buyers, and planners. The study has become a key industry benchmark for understanding how advertisers are approaching YouTube and shaping video investment strategies for the year ahead.

Conducted by the only company certified by Google for brand suitability, contextual targeting, and content insights on YouTube, the report includes direct feedback from agency leaders and is also validated by Pixability’s proprietary campaign data. The study asked agency leaders about current video advertising behaviors and how they foresee YouTube and CTV budgets and strategies evolving as they head into 2026.

According to U.S.-based agencies surveyed, 81% predict advertiser spending on YouTube will remain steady or increase in 2026, with 38% indicating budgets will stay the same and 43% planning to increase them. Only 4% of respondents expect a decrease in their clients’ YouTube budgets.

Agencies also identified CTV and YouTube as the clear spending winners in 2025, with more than half reporting year-over-year budget increases across both channels. By contrast, investment growth for Meta and TikTok flattened, with just 35% and 27% of agencies reporting spending increases in 2025, down from 40% and 31%, respectively, in 2024. Linear TV experienced the steepest pullback, with 37% of agencies reporting decreased spend, up from 32% in 2024—compared with declines of just 6% for CTV and 5% for YouTube in 2025. Results were consistent for UK agencies surveyed.

“YouTube had a defining moment in 2025, as brands increased their focus not only on advertising, but also on creator and influencer strategies—and on investing more heavily in organic content so they could operate more like creators themselves,” said David George, CEO of Pixability. “Heading into 2026, agencies are predicting another year of increased investment, alongside new challenges as brands work to effectively manage and activate the many different ways YouTube can be used across the marketing mix.”

The Big Shift: YouTube Emerges as a Go-to CTV/TV Platform

In this year’s study, Pixability asked agencies to identify the biggest shifts they anticipate in YouTube advertising in 2026. Across both the U.S. and the U.K., agencies overwhelmingly pointed to one clear trend: YouTube on TV’s accelerating role as a core component of CTV campaigns. Nearly seven in ten U.S. agencies (69%) and four in five U.K. agencies (80%) predict that YouTube on TV screens will be used in more CTV campaigns than ever before in 2026.

"Going into 2026, US agencies and their brand partners are eagerly embracing YouTube as an important Connected TV platform, especially with the emergence of YouTube TV as a CTV powerhouse,” said Brian Banks, VP, Director of Digital Media Strategy at Davis Elen. “In addition to YouTube having the biggest reach on CTV of any streaming platform, it also has an unparallelled content library and robust audience affinity targeting that can serve as vital ingredients for any advertiser looking to engage consumers in their living rooms."

The shift is even more pronounced in the U.K. Just 23% of U.K. agencies reported plans to use YouTube on TV screens last year. That figure has jumped to 85% heading into 2026, signaling a dramatic acceleration in adoption.

“As more TV broadcasters move their content onto YouTube, we’re seeing a significant increase in premium, TV-style programming on the platform,” said Nicola Westwood, Managing Partner – AV Product Solution at IPG in London. “That evolution is driving a real shift among advertisers, who are increasingly selecting TV-like content on YouTube as part of their broader AV strategies.”

Other Big Shifts Shaping YouTube’s Role in 2026

YouTube as Social: Shorts Adoption Accelerates

YouTube’s evolution as a social platform is also accelerating, driven by growing adoption of Shorts. In last year’s study, 50% of U.S. agencies said they planned to use YouTube Shorts in 2025. This year, that figure jumped to 67% of agencies planning to use Shorts in 2026—signaling increased confidence in Shorts as a core part of YouTube strategies, not just an experimental format.

Agencies Confront the Challenge of Managing YouTube as an Ecosystem

As YouTube expands, agencies increasingly view it not as a single platform, but as a multi-dimensional ecosystem. Today, agencies define YouTube not only as a standalone video platform (73%), but also as a CTV platform (63%), a social platform (50%), and a direct response channel (30%).

This complexity presents operational challenges. Larger agencies often manage these functions across separate teams, making it difficult to unify YouTube strategy across brand, performance, CTV, creator, and organic efforts. Smaller independent agencies, by contrast, have tended to be more agile in coordinating across these use cases.

Despite YouTube’s growing creator economy, most agencies still lack visibility across paid, creator, and organic activity. Only 22% of ad teams report having visibility into creator efforts, and just 24% have any involvement in or insight into brands’ organic YouTube strategies—highlighting a significant gap in holistic planning and measurement.

AI for YouTube: Adoption Remains Inconsistent

Agency adoption of AI for YouTube is uneven. Holding-company agencies are three times more likely to be investing heavily in AI for agency operations than independent agencies, reflecting broader efforts by large agencies to differentiate their offerings beyond what brands can execute directly with Google. Independent agencies, meanwhile, are more likely to seek external partners to apply AI in targeted ways. Across the industry, agencies remain cautious about using AI in creative production. Just 56% report using AI in ad creative at all—primarily for voice-over rather than visual effects.

While creative use remains limited, agencies are more open to AI-generated content environments. Two-thirds (66%) say they are comfortable running ads alongside AI-generated content, provided it is high-quality and brand-suitable (52%) or effectively reaches the intended audience (14%).

About Pixability

Pixability is the leading AI-driven technology company empowering the world’s largest brands and their agencies to maximize the value of their video advertising on YouTube. Leveraging its proprietary technology platform and data, Pixability makes every video impression more meaningful by identifying contextually relevant, brand suitable inventory and maximizing cost efficient outcomes. Pixability’s suite of solutions are used by the top media agencies including IPG, Publicis, Omnicom, Dentsu, and WPP Media, as well as brands such as KIND, McDonalds, Salesforce, Lego and CVS. The company is the only YouTube partner certified for brand suitability, contextual targeting, and content insights, enabling unique solutions for the benefit of brands and their agencies. For more information about Pixability, please visit www.pixability.com or watch a video on our solution here.

Alexandra Levy

Email: alex@siliconalley-media.com

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