Prime Highlights-
- Gartner forecasts AI-influenced self-serve platforms will carry over 70% of global ad spend by 2028.
- Firm urges CMOs to prioritize strategic platforms and strengthen independent measurement as AI reshapes ad buying.
Key Facts-
- AI-influenced platforms are set to handle 80% of US ad spend by 2028, per Gartner.
- Gartner recommends CMOs favor platforms enabling independent performance measurement over platform-reported results alone.
Background-
Gartner, Inc., the research and advisory firm, forecasts that self-serve advertising platforms where AI plays a major role in media buying, cost and outcomes will handle over 70% of global ad spend and 80% of US ad spend by 2028.
These platforms now build AI directly into the algorithms that decide which ads run, who sees them and what price gets charged. This kind of back-office AI works differently from generative AI used for creative development, functioning instead behind the scenes to shape how advertising gets purchased, priced and served.
Eric Schmitt, VP Analyst in Gartner’s Marketing practice, said AI’s role goes well beyond speeding up campaign execution for marketers. Platforms, he explained, use AI to gain greater sway over how marketers reach their audiences, what costs they face and the outcomes they see.
Schmitt also pointed out that even though AI promised more efficient advertising, better economics for platforms does not necessarily mean lower costs for advertisers, which is why CMOs need independent proof of their returns.
Media buying and management increasingly happens through advertising platform interfaces and APIs, and AI’s grip on choices around ad delivery, audience targeting and pricing will only tighten going forward.
Gartner lays out three moves CMOs should make to boost transparency, measurement and accountability. The first involves narrowing focus onto the platforms carrying real strategic weight, backing them with investment, talent and attention since they drive results with priority audiences.
The second calls for building out a set of secondary platforms, tapped selectively to broaden reach and try out fresh opportunities. The third pushes CMOs toward platforms built for transparency and independent measurement, sending more investment toward those that allow genuine performance comparisons.
According to Schmitt, the deeper AI reaches into advertising decisions, the more critical independent measurement becomes. CMOs, he said, need assurance that platform results mirror actual business outcomes rather than relying solely on numbers the platforms themselves report.
