Originally published January 2011. Updated June 2026.
The 2011 version of this analysis covered Vevo, Hulu, comScore rankings, and a category called online video advertising where Americans watched roughly 5.9 billion ads in a month. The 2026 version is unrecognizable. Vevo got absorbed into YouTube as a content partner, Hulu became an ad-tier subset of Disney+, comScore reorganized itself twice, and the video advertising category split into three new layers that the 2011 piece could not have anticipated. This is what video advertising actually looks like in 2026.
What Happened to Vevo
Vevo launched in December 2009 as a joint venture among Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media. It ranked among the top U.S. online video properties through the early 2010s. Google took an equity stake in 2013. The standalone Vevo apps were retired in 2018. The brand continues to operate as a music-video distribution and licensing partner, but the consumer-facing surface migrated entirely to YouTube channels. The 2011 comScore ranking that placed Vevo behind only Google and Yahoo would be impossible in 2026. The category does not measure that way anymore.
The CTV Surge
Connected TV is now the largest growth category in video advertising. U.S. CTV ad spend cleared $30 billion in 2025, per eMarketer tracking, growing at double-digit annual rates while linear-TV spend declined for the seventh consecutive year. Netflix’s ad-supported tier reached more than 100 million monthly active users globally by mid-2025. Amazon Prime Video flipped to ad-supported as the default in 2024 and added a paid ad-free upgrade, reversing the historical streaming-ad order. Disney+, Max, Paramount+, and Peacock all run ad-supported tiers. The streaming ad layer is now structurally larger than the linear-TV upfront market that dominated U.S. video advertising for forty years.
The YouTube Hegemony
YouTube is now the largest single video advertising property by a margin that has only widened. Alphabet’s YouTube ad revenue cleared $36 billion in 2024 and is on pace to materially exceed that in 2025, per the company’s quarterly disclosures. The platform’s share of U.S. television viewing time, per Nielsen’s monthly tracking, exceeded all individual broadcast and cable networks combined for the first time in 2024. YouTube is no longer competing for the digital-video ad market. It is competing for the entire television advertising market and winning meaningful share of it.
The strategic implication for brands is structural. A 2011 video advertising strategy was a media-buy decision across multiple platforms. A 2026 video advertising strategy is fundamentally a YouTube strategy with optional CTV and connected-TV inventory overlaid on top of it.
The Retail Media Layer
Amazon Ads cleared $56 billion in revenue in 2024 and continues to expand at double-digit annual rates, with video and CTV inventory now a material portion of the mix following the launch of ads on Prime Video. Walmart Connect built a $4B+ retail media business with growing video inventory. Roku’s advertising platform produces material video inventory across the most-watched CTV operating system in the U.S. Retail media did not exist as a meaningful category in the 2011 analysis. It is now the third-largest digital advertising layer in the world.
Where Brand Spend Actually Goes in 2026
The U.S. brand-video budget allocation that performs in 2026 splits across four layers. YouTube and the broader Google video ecosystem (YouTube Shorts, Demand Gen campaigns) carries the largest single share. Connected TV across Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Hulu, and the Roku channel ecosystem carries the second-largest share. Retail media networks (Amazon, Walmart Connect, Roku, Instacart, Target) carry the third share. Linear TV carries the remainder, and is now under 30 percent of the total brand-video budget at most modern advertisers, down from over 70 percent a decade ago.
The communications implication is direct. The brands that adapted their video strategy around CTV, YouTube, and retail media between 2020 and 2025 captured measurable share gains. The brands that maintained linear-anchored budgets are now paying for an audience that no longer exists at the volume the media plans assume.
Yes, as a music-video distribution and licensing partner that operates primarily through YouTube channels and CTV apps. The standalone Vevo consumer apps were retired in 2018. The brand is no longer a top-ranked U.S. online video property in the way it was during the 2010–2013 window.
How large is the U.S. CTV advertising market?
Connected TV ad spend in the U.S. cleared $30 billion in 2025 per eMarketer tracking and continues to grow at double-digit annual rates. The category captured measurable share from linear television advertising every year since 2020 and is now structurally larger than the linear-TV upfront market that dominated U.S. video advertising for the prior four decades.
How does YouTube’s video advertising compare to traditional TV in 2026?
YouTube’s share of U.S. television viewing time, per Nielsen’s monthly tracking, exceeded all individual broadcast and cable networks combined for the first time in 2024. YouTube’s 2024 ad revenue cleared $36 billion. The platform is no longer competing for the digital-video ad market. It is competing for the entire television advertising market and winning meaningful share.
What is retail media and how does it affect video advertising?
Retail media is advertising sold by retailers (Amazon, Walmart, Target, Roku, Instacart) inside their own platforms and CTV inventory. Amazon Ads cleared $56 billion in 2024, with growing video inventory following the launch of ads on Prime Video. Walmart Connect is a $4 billion+ business. Retail media is now the third-largest digital advertising layer in the world and a material portion of the modern brand-video budget.
How should brands allocate video ad spend in 2026?
The performing 2026 allocation splits across four layers: YouTube and the broader Google video ecosystem as the largest single share, connected TV (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Hulu, Roku) as the second-largest, retail media networks as the third, and linear TV as the remainder. Linear-anchored budgets are now under 30 percent of total brand-video spend at most modern advertisers.
Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
Yes, as a music-video distribution and licensing partner that operates primarily through YouTube channels and CTV apps. The standalone Vevo consumer apps were retired in 2018. The brand is no longer a top-ranked U.S. online video property in the way it was during the 2010–2013 window.
How large is the U.S. CTV advertising market?
Connected TV ad spend in the U.S. cleared $30 billion in 2025 per eMarketer tracking and continues to grow at double-digit annual rates. The category captured measurable share from linear television advertising every year since 2020 and is now structurally larger than the linear-TV upfront market that dominated U.S. video advertising for the prior four decades.
How does YouTube’s video advertising compare to traditional TV in 2026?
YouTube’s share of U.S. television viewing time, per Nielsen’s monthly tracking, exceeded all individual broadcast and cable networks combined for the first time in 2024. YouTube’s 2024 ad revenue cleared $36 billion. The platform is no longer competing for the digital-video ad market. It is competing for the entire television advertising market and winning meaningful share.
What is retail media and how does it affect video advertising?
Retail media is advertising sold by retailers (Amazon, Walmart, Target, Roku, Instacart) inside their own platforms and CTV inventory. Amazon Ads cleared $56 billion in 2024, with growing video inventory following the launch of ads on Prime Video. Walmart Connect is a $4 billion+ business. Retail media is now the third-largest digital advertising layer in the world and a material portion of the modern brand-video budget.
How should brands allocate video ad spend in 2026?
The performing 2026 allocation splits across four layers: YouTube and the broader Google video ecosystem as the largest single share, connected TV (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Hulu, Roku) as the second-largest, retail media networks as the third, and linear TV as the remainder. Linear-anchored budgets are now under 30 percent of total brand-video spend at most modern advertisers. Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
