Why App Marketers Are Moving CTV Budgets to AI-Driven Platforms

Moloco launched Moloco Ads for Performance CTV on April 15, 2026, bringing mobile-grade measurement and real-time optimization to connected television advertising for app marketers globally.

Platform Applies Mobile AI to Television Ad Buying

The product extends the same artificial intelligence models powering Moloco's mobile advertising business to connected TV (CTV) inventory. Rather than relying on demographic targeting and post-campaign measurement, the platform optimizes each ad impression in real time against specific outcomes such as app installs and user engagement.

Early campaign results showed CTV delivered up to 1.5 times higher ROI than mobile when both channels ran simultaneously. Approximately two-thirds of app installs from CTV ads occurred within six hours of ad exposure.

Sunil Rayan, Chief Business Officer and General Manager of Moloco Ads, said: "Connected TV represents one of the biggest untapped opportunities for app marketers today. With Performance CTV, we're bringing the measurability and precision that app marketers expect from mobile to the world of television."

Three Core Components Address Attribution Gap

The platform is built on three pillars. First, it provides access to household CTV inventory from supply partners. Second, it delivers publisher-level reporting integrated with advertisers' existing mobile measurement partners (MMP), the third-party tools app marketers already use to track campaign performance. Third, it operates as an open platform that does not prioritize Moloco's own inventory or audience data.

Why CTV Measurement Lags Mobile—And How Moloco Bridges It

Moloco launches AI-powered CTV buying with real-time optimization and app-install attribution. Early data shows 1.5x higher ROI versus mobile, signaling performance accountability is finally coming to connected TV.

Mission MediaMission Media

The MMP integration directly addresses a key barrier for performance marketers. It allows CTV campaign results to be compared against mobile campaigns using the same measurement tools, removing the attribution gap that has historically made CTV unattractive to app advertisers.

Fanatics Betting and Gaming used the platform during a college basketball campaign in March 2026. Blair Hilton, Director of Performance Marketing at Fanatics Betting and Gaming, confirmed: "Performance exceeded expectations and enabled us to reach a broader audience efficiently."

CTV Ad Market Intensifies as Spending Grows

The global CTV advertising market is estimated at US$40 to US$45 billion, yet the channel has remained largely limited to brand advertising. Moloco's product targets this structural gap directly.

Competition in CTV ad technology has intensified. Netflix introduced its Ad Suite with personalized genre-based targeting at CTV Connect 2025. Amazon launched Shoppable Ads in Q3 2025 and AI Contextual Pause Ads in Q4 2025. Paramount merged ad technology stacks for Paramount+ and Pluto TV. 56% of marketers planned increased OTT and CTV spending in 2025, signaling strong demand for performance-oriented CTV solutions.

Moloco's open platform model, which does not favor proprietary inventory, differentiates it from ad technology firms that control both buying tools and media supply.

Moloco's AI Foundation Spans Two Billion Consumers

Founded in 2013, Moloco has spent over a decade building machine-learning systems for ad targeting and optimization across the open internet. Its advertising technology reaches two billion consumers across more than two million mobile apps, providing the data foundation for its CTV AI models.

Rayan positioned the CTV launch within a broader convergence of mobile, CTV, and retail media. These three channels have historically operated with separate technology stacks, measurement systems, and buying processes.

The launch is now live and available to app marketers seeking to extend performance advertising to connected television screens.