As the programmatic advertising ecosystem continues to evolve, when it comes to video, a variety of new standards are expected to be gradually implemented in 2026. Here’s what you need to know about them. 

For what it takes, programmatic advertising remains one of the fastest growing industry sectors in 2026. According to the 2026 Comscore report, for instance, almost 60% of buyers are planning to grow their programmatic ad spend this year, and the global ad spend report by Dentsu also proves this point, stating that programmatic advertising is predicted to take over 80% of the entire digital ad spend in 2026. 

In this respect, CTV and digital video remain among the key drivers of the global programmatic growth, with IAB Tech Lab predicting its double-digit gain in the CTV sector alone (of almost 14%) in 2026 (per MediaPost).

What this programmatic dominance trend means for the industry, is that while businesses are still willing to expand their investment in the niche, pressure on tech infrastructure persists. This primarily relates to back-end improvements needed to address existing challenges such as supply chain transparency, combating video ad fraud, and establishing standards for communication between DSPs and SSPs in the oRTB ecosystem.

Fortunately, based on what we’re seeing in Q1 2026, it looks like the industry bodies, like IAB Tech Lab, have been putting significant effort into developing standards to streamline the programmatic advertising process where possible. 

Key Updates in Recent Programmatic CTV Guidelines

Soon after the announcement of the Ad Format Hero initiative, closer to the end of 2025, the IAB Tech Lab released the updated guidance for programmatic CTV practices, which includes a detailed portfolio of 6 key ad formats with standardized format labeling in bid requests, best practices and recommendations for interactivity implementations (spoiler: via SIMID), and updated video submission guidelines. 

As the recent updates were available for public comment until January 31, 2026 and received positive feedback from key buy- and sell-side stakeholders, the final release can be expected in Q2 2026, with gradual standard adoption beginning in May – June 2026, ahead of Q4 2026. 

At the same time, it would be too ambitious to expect the mandatory standard adoption industry-wide until 2027, given the significant operational resources required to implement the changes. However, it would be a good idea to add this milestone in the product roadmap for 2026, if a publisher’s focus is on the CTV space. 

Curation Standardization Streamlined with Deals API

In case of deal curation in programmatic video advertising, its inevitable inefficiencies, often due to manual config mistakes and lack of labeling transparencies, have been a pain point for both DSPs and SSPs for quite some time. 

Well, the good news is that the recently launched Deals API should help reduce discrepancies and inconsistencies in deal configuration, while also fostering transparency across the programmatic supply chain, i.e. by enabling the identification of all players involved, including inventory sellers, deal packagers, and DCaaS vendors involved, if any. 

When it comes to Deals API adoption timeline, the outlook is less clear than for CTV formats. However, according to optimistic forecasts, this process may begin Q3 2026, with the broader adoption dynamics remaining unclear. 

Nonetheless, adopting Deals API in 2026 is definitely worthwhile for businesses, primarily focused on deals curation in their programmatic ad activities. 

Improved CTV Ad Fraud Prevention Practices in OM SDK

Since device spoofing, as a part of a bigger IVT & SIVT fraud ecosystem, has always been a serious issue in CTV advertising, implementing some kind of device attestation capabilities has been a long time coming. 

And in Q4 2025, IAB Tech Lab took a big step forward in this respect, by adding device attestation support within its Open Measurement SDK.

Namely, the newly-released functionality enables device manufacturers to attest that a particular ad impression was actually served on a CTV device, for instance, then passing this created signal on to an inventory buyer, hence ensuring inventory verification on their end. 

The adoption of these new features should substantially improve the transparency of programmatic transactions in the CTV environment, allowing advertisers to better assess the effectiveness of their video ad campaigns, while also helping premium publishers to secure their reputation, and in turn, drive revenue gains through direct partnerships, too. 

On the other hand, however, the main issue with the new functionality in OM SDK is the barriers to rapid adoption, primarily among device manufacturers. In this context, it’s up to the largest buy-side market players to encourage the implementation in 2026, while also optimizing their technical infrastructure to correctly interpret such signals, when available.