Taboola has released new research highlighting increased advertiser adoption of AI-powered advertising tools and growing interest in expanding their use beyond walled garden platforms such as search and social media.
The study, titled ‘The Agentic Advantage in Performance Marketing: Securing Incremental Growth Beyond Search and Social,’ examines how advertisers are responding to AI-driven performance marketing.
According to the research, Agentic AI is delivering performance advertising wins, but the benefits are confined to the walled gardens. 76% of advertisers are already seeing meaningful performance uplift from AI-powered solutions, primarily on search and social platforms.
Performance advertisers feel trapped with Agentic AI on search and social. 80% state they would immediately increase their ad spend on the open web if comparable agentic solutions existed, with 86% willing to allocate up to a quarter of their performance budget to the shift.
On adoption challenges, the study noted, the biggest advertisers are struggling the most with agentic AI. The number one challenge for advertisers adopting agentic AI is integrating it into existing workflows, but the struggle is disproportionately felt by large advertisers. It noted, 9% of advertisers spending $300K-$499K per month cite integration as a barrier, compared to 74% of companies spending $1M-$4.9M per month who call it the dominant roadblock.”
Speaking on the report findings, Adam Singolda, Founder and CEO, Taboola, said, “Advertisers of all sizes are leaning into agentic advertising, and the results are following. Our research shows a clear demand for advertisers that want the same ‘always-on,’ AI-driven performance they see in walled gardens applied to the open web, however. They are looking for autonomous systems that learn continuously, pivot in real time, and turn every impression into a measurable outcome,”
The company introduced Realize+ in April 2026, described as an agentic solution that uses supply, first-party data and AI to scale performance.The system includes a Decision Engine that reallocates spend in real time and an Element Generator that automates creative and targeting.
The Realize+ beta has now been rolled out for advertisers to test performance outcomes at scale.
