Over 70% of global ad spend will pass through AI-driven advertising platforms by 2028, according to data from Gartner. The research firm also predicts that the corresponding percentage for the United States will be 80%, highlighting how important AI could become to the purchase and distribution of self-service ads over the next few years.
Gartner warns in its release that the increasing usage of AI could undermine transparency, measurement and accountability for advertisers, weakening their ability to direct and manage campaigns, while also potentially raising costs.
AI ‘exerting greater influence over how marketers reach their audiences’
“AI is not merely helping marketers execute campaigns faster,” said Eric Schmitt, VP Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice. “Advertising platforms are using it to exert greater influence over how marketers reach their audiences, what they pay, and the outcomes they achieve.”
Gartner forecasts that, over the next few years, AI will become more embedded in the processes of audience selection and pricing, something which may insert an uncertain, uncontrollable element in self-service ad platforms.
“AI was expected to make advertising more efficient, but improved platform economics does not necessarily translate into lower costs for the advertiser,” added Schmitt. “CMOs need independent evidence that they’re getting the returns they expect.”
Gartner highlights how the growing “back-office” use of AI is different from the use of LLMs to generate advertising content. And in response to how it operates “behind the scenes” to guide the purchase and delivery of online ads, the research company is already advising companies to take three steps in particular to improve oversight.
Firstly, marketers should prioritise the most strategically important ad platforms, concentrating resources only or mostly on the channels that deliver the strongest results. Secondly, they should create a list of additional platforms they can use selectively to test new markets and potentially expand their reach. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, marketers should prioritise platforms that offer greater transparency and enable independent measurement, so that they can continue to evaluate and compare results.
“The more influence AI has over advertising decisions, the more important independent measurement becomes,” explains Schmitt. “CMOs need confidence that platform performance reflects real business impact, not just platform-reported results.”
The future is coming fast
Examples of self-service and other ad platforms integrating AI have been proliferating in recent months. In November, Amazon launched its Ads Agent tool, which automates many of the processes inherent to self-service campaigns. Similarly, Criteo launched its self-service Criteo Go ad platform at the end of March, enabling SMEs and growth-stage companies in the UK and the US to harness an AI-based solution that “automatically optimizes spend to drive the best outcome.”
Then there’s the fact that OpenAI has very recently branched out into providing ad space with ChatGPT, which appears to be gaining traction as a channel for advertising. In May, it launched a self-service platform for its ads, with Criteo reporting that over 1,000 brands had used its APIs to launch campaigns on ChatGPT. Even more impressively, the digital advertising company revealed that ads on ChatGPT were, on average, garnering click-through rates “roughly three times higher than comparable formats in other environments.”
Such data ultimately supports Gartner’s prediction of a future where most ad spend flows through AI-powered self-service channels. Of course, time will tell as to just how prepared brands are for such a future.
Over 70% of global ad spend will pass through AI-driven advertising platforms by 2028, according to data from Gartner. The research firm also predicts that the corresponding percentage for the United States will be 80%, highlighting how important AI could become to the purchase and distribution of self-service ads over the next few years.
Gartner warns in its release that the increasing usage of AI could undermine transparency, measurement and accountability for advertisers, weakening their ability to direct and manage campaigns, while also potentially raising costs.
