The Performance Gap Is Widening in 2026

Programmatic budgets are rising—75% of marketers expect growth—but fragmentation is quietly draining performance. From siloed channels to bloated tech stacks, many teams are scaling spend faster than their infrastructure can keep up.

StackAdapt’s “The State of Programmatic Advertising 2026” report explores how top-performing marketers are closing that gap. Based on insights from 484 senior marketers and platform data from more than 6,000 advertisers, the report reveals where programmatic is headed—and what separates leaders from the rest.

Key insights include:

• Hidden budget waste: Two-thirds of marketers say siloed execution wastes up to 30% of programmatic spend, undermining efficiency and scale.
• Consolidation advantage: Top performers are 4X more likely to modernize over half their tech stack, driving stronger ROI through connected systems.
• AI impact zones: Revenue leaders are nearly twice as likely to invest heavily in AI across creative, data, and optimization workflows.

Close the gap and prepare for a smarter 2026. Download the report.