New research from DoubleVerify shows 70% of marketers increased YouTube investment last year with Netflix not far behind. CTV fraud has collapsed and shoppable ads are next.
CTV fraud collapsed. Investment is compounding. The gap that remains is between what marketers can spend and what they can prove.
YouTube has held the top spot for marketer streaming investment for some time. New data confirms the gap is holding, and shows Netflix closing faster than most expected.
DoubleVerify's 2026 Global Insights Report surveyed more than 2,000 marketers and 22,000 consumers across 20-plus markets. 70% of marketers increased their YouTube streaming investment in the past year. Netflix came in second at 65%, ahead of Amazon Prime Video at 59% and Samsung TV Plus at 48%.
Marketers who increased YouTube streaming investment in the past year, per DoubleVerify's 2026 Global Insights Report
The Netflix number is the more interesting one. Netflix launched its ad tier in late 2022. By the end of 2023 it had 23 million monthly active users on that tier. The question for marketers wasn't whether to test it. It was whether the measurement infrastructure was ready.
That infrastructure problem has been partly solved by the collapse in CTV fraud. DoubleVerify reported that CTV fraud rates dropped significantly as the category matured, making the environment measurably cleaner than it was 18 months ago. Fewer ghost impressions means more confidence in the investment.
Shoppable ads are the next development that will move budgets. The ability to transact directly from a streaming environment collapses the path from awareness to conversion in a way that hasn't been possible in traditional TV. YouTube has been piloting this. Netflix has announced it. The race is about who gets the product experience right first.
For Australian marketers, the access story is still maturing. Local streaming inventory across YouTube, Netflix and the BVOD players (9Now, 7Plus, 10Play) is expanding, but the planning infrastructure for cross-platform reach and frequency management lags behind the US.
That lag is a short-term problem. The direction is clear. Streaming is where attention is moving and the measurement tools are catching up.