Taboola published new research on May 13, 2026, on how performance advertisers are using agentic AI, meaning AI systems that make and carry out campaign decisions rather than only giving recommendations. The study, titled "The Agentic Advantage in Performance Marketing: Securing Incremental Growth Beyond Search and Social", suggests advertisers are getting results from AI automation inside search and social and want the same outside them. Here is what it found and what it means for advertisers planning budgets.

The key findings

  • 76% of advertisers said AI-powered ad solutions have meaningfully improved their performance, with those gains coming mostly from search and social platforms.
  • 80% said they would immediately increase open-web spending if agentic AI solutions comparable to search and social were available there.
  • 86% said they would be willing to move up to a quarter of their performance budget to the open web.
  • Integration is the biggest hurdle, and it grows with company size. Only 9% of advertisers spending $300,000 to $499,000 a month saw fitting agentic AI into existing workflows as a barrier, compared with 74% of those spending $1 million to $4.9 million a month.

The figures come from a survey commissioned by Taboola. When Taboola introduced the same results in April, coverage by PPC Land described it as a survey of 200 senior marketers at US and UK enterprises with more than 1,000 employees. As with any vendor-commissioned study, read the numbers as a signal of direction rather than a precise market measurement.

What Taboola's CEO said

Adam Singolda, Taboola's founder and CEO, said advertisers of all sizes are leaning into agentic advertising and the results are following, and that advertisers want to bring the always-on, AI-driven performance they get inside walled gardens to the open web, through an autonomous system that keeps learning and turns each impression into a measurable outcome.

Where Realize+ fits

The research follows Taboola's launch of Realize+ on April 23, 2026, an agentic system built on top of Realize, Taboola's performance advertising platform. Taboola describes two main components:

  • Decision Engine: moves budget in real time toward the best-performing campaigns, using a new Budget Allocator.
  • Element Generator: creates and keeps improving ads and targeting without manual updates.

Taboola positions Realize+ as the open-web counterpart to automated products such as Google's Performance Max and Meta's Advantage+, with visibility into where ads run. It also opened Realize to Claude Skills, so advertisers and agencies can set up and optimize campaigns from within Anthropic's Claude. Realize+ is rolling out as a beta, with further phases planned through 2026.

What this means for advertisers

Open-web budgets are likely to grow

If even part of the stated intent turns into spend, competition for premium native inventory will rise. Advertisers who build conversion data and creative libraries on platforms like Taboola now will be better placed than those who arrive later.

Automation needs clean data

Agentic systems optimize toward whatever conversions you feed them. Accurate pixel and server-to-server tracking, with purchase values and qualified-lead events, matters more than ever. Poor tracking simply means the AI optimizes toward the wrong outcome faster.

Creative volume becomes the constraint

When budget allocation and bidding are automated, the advertiser's main lever is the quality and variety of creative and landing pages. Even with tools like an Element Generator, the strongest inputs are clear offers, real product photography and landing pages that match the ad.

Large advertisers should plan the workflow, not just the tool

The gap between 9% and 74% suggests the hard part is organizational: approvals, brand rules, reporting and agency coordination. Agree in advance which decisions the system can make on its own and how results will be reviewed.

Quick Checklist

  • Audit pixel and server-to-server conversion tracking before testing automated bidding.
  • Send purchase values or qualified-lead events, not just clicks or page views.
  • Decide which budget and creative decisions automation may make without approval.
  • Build a library of headlines, images and landing pages for automated testing.
  • Set a test budget for open-web channels alongside search and social.
  • Review placement reports regularly to keep visibility into where ads run.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Treating vendor-commissioned survey figures as guaranteed outcomes.
  • Turning on automated budget allocation with incomplete conversion tracking.
  • Expecting AI-generated creative to replace a clear offer and good product imagery.
  • Rolling out automation across every campaign at once instead of testing first.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is agentic AI in advertising?

Agentic AI refers to systems that make and execute campaign decisions, such as moving budget, changing bids or generating new ads, toward a goal you set, instead of only reporting data or suggesting changes.

What is Taboola Realize+?

Realize+ is Taboola's agentic AI system, launched in April 2026 on top of its Realize platform. Its Decision Engine reallocates budget in real time and its Element Generator creates and optimizes ads and targeting.

How can I start testing Taboola?

Start with a single campaign, full conversion tracking and several creative variations. Our Taboola cold start guide covers the setup, and our Taboola ad account service can help you open an account.