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39 percent growth in connected TV at Magnite, 55 percent revenue growth at AppLovin – but double-digit declines at other adtech providers. The quarterly figures for July to September 2026 show that digital ad money is landing very unevenly. For media teams, it therefore matters more which environment a partner sells and how they measure success.
Behind this are two particularly dynamic areas: performance advertising in mobile apps and programmatically bookable advertising on streaming TV. Classic open-web inventory, meanwhile, is under pressure.
Connected TV is growing – but not evenly across providers
The seller Magnite reported 204,2 million US dollars in revenue for the third quarter on 4 November, 14 percent more than a year earlier. Its metric contribution ex-TAC, meaning revenue after deducting traffic acquisition costs, is especially telling: in the connected TV segment it rose 39 percent to 105,4 million dollars. CTV accounted for roughly 53 percent of total contribution ex-TAC.
This makes streaming advertising at Magnite no longer a small future project, but the economic centre of gravity. For brands, it means more programmatically accessible inventory, which raises similar steering and measurement questions as online advertising – in a markedly different usage context.
This movement matches the growing importance of CTV in large campaigns. In the US midterms, 2026 CTV clearly overtook cable TV advertising. That makes reach, frequency and overlap with social video questions for the same media plan.
AppLovin shows how profitable mobile performance can be
AppLovin is growing even faster: according to the official Q3 figures, the company generated 2,185 billion dollars in revenue, an increase of 55 percent. Net profit rose 72 percent to 1,439 billion dollars. Competitor Unity reached 622 million dollars in revenue, 32 percent growth; its advertising-relevant Grow division reached 457 million dollars.
App-based advertising environments benefit from performance optimisation, direct access to users and automated delivery. Many advertisers' interest is shifting from the cheapest possible impression to the question of where incremental customers and purchases can actually be achieved.
This offers opportunities for app providers and e-commerce brands, but also a planning risk: a campaign that works well in a gaming app does not automatically replace a brand message in an editorial environment.
Retail media and the open web show the other side
At Criteo, revenue fell 11 percent in the third quarter to 416 million dollars, even though the advertising volume processed through the platform rose 9 percent to 1,2 billion dollars. In the retail media business the decline was 23 percent; according to the company, changes at two clients weighed on the business by around 20 million dollars. For media buyers, this is a sign of how strongly individual retail partnerships can shape an adtech provider's results.
Teads reported a revenue decline of 26 percent to 235,1 million dollars. Although its CTV division grew by 37 percent according to the company, its share of 12 percent of quarterly revenue was not yet enough to offset weakness in the rest of the business. The high quarterly loss was also weighed down by a substantial impairment. The figures therefore do not simply argue for or against a channel, but show very different business models and starting positions.
Three questions for your next media plan
If you're reviewing partners and budgets now, don't rely solely on an adtech firm's growth rate. First, consider which inventory you're buying: mobile app, open web, retailer data or CTV. Then look at metrics such as revenue after TAC, incrementality, attention and actual results. Third, it's worth examining data access and transparency, especially when algorithms automatically optimise inventory and audiences.
How quickly shared terminology becomes a problem in streaming is shown by our analysis of inconsistent CTV genre tags. New attention-targeting approaches for CTV are a response to the demand for better quality indicators.
Sources: Magnite Q3 report from 4 November 2026, AppLovin Q3 report, Criteo Q3 report, Teads Q3 report, Digiday industry comparison.