ANA Programmatic Transparency Benchmark Reveals Widening Gap Between Top and Bottom Advertisers
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Top Performing Advertisers Convert 54% of Programmatic Spend Into Qualified Impressions While Lower Performers Convert Just 32%
NEW YORK, May 29, 2026 — The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) today released its Q1 2026 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark, revealing that higher-performing advertisers continue to outperform lower-performing peers across measurement quality, viewability, and supply chain concentration.
The Benchmark found that higher-performing advertisers converted 54.0 percent of programmatic spend into qualified impressions in Q1 2026, while the lower-performing cohort converted just 32.1 percent. The resulting 21.9-point gap is the largest recorded by the Benchmark to date and reinforces that quality, not cost, is the primary differentiator in programmatic performance.
“The data shows that programmatic performance is increasingly driven by the ability to actively manage quality, price, measurement, and curate supply at scale,” said Bob Liodice, CEO of the ANA. “Higher-performing advertisers continue to convert spend more efficiently, while lower-performing advertisers are falling further behind.”
The market-level TrueAdSpend Index, which measures the share of programmatic investment delivering fraud-free, measurable, viewable, and MFA-free impressions, rebounded to 43.3 percent in Q1 2026 following volatility in late 2025. The ANA found that the recovery was driven primarily by improvements in delivery quality, particularly viewability, rather than transaction cost reductions.
What Separates Top Performers
The Benchmark found that the gap between higher- and lower-performing advertisers is driven far more by media productivity than transaction costs. Transaction costs differed by just 2.4 percentage points between cohorts, while media productivity losses differed by 19.4 percentage points.
Compared with lower-performing advertisers, the higher-performing cohort:
operated with significantly more concentrated supply footprints,
maintained a 13.3 percentage point advantage in measurable inventory,
achieved a 6.7 percentage point advantage in viewability,
and converted more spend into working media while paying lower average CPMs.
Higher-performing advertisers lost 19.0 percent of spend to media quality issues, while the lower-performing cohort lost 38.4 percent, more than double. The report found that the lower-performing cohort loses more than two-thirds of every dollar before it reaches the end consumer.
When adjusted for quality through the Benchmark’s TrueCPM methodology, the higher-performing cohort paid $7.46 per thousand qualified impressions, compared with $19.04 for the lower-performing cohort. The report found that a $1.95 CPM difference becomes an $11.58 TrueCPM difference once waste is accounted for.
What’s New This Quarter
Performance Divergence Widens: The spread between higher- and lower-performing advertisers reached a record 21.9 percentage points.
Quality Optimization Reduces Cost: Higher-performing advertisers achieved stronger outcomes while paying lower average CPMs.
Pricing Pressure Reverses: Overall CPMs declined from $5.55 in Q4 2025 to $4.42 in Q1 2026 following elevated pricing pressure in late 2025.
MFA Exposure Increases Slightly: MFA exposure increased to 1.1 percent in Q1 2026 after remaining between 0.4 and 0.6 percent throughout 2025, with the report identifying AI slop as an emerging subtype requiring ongoing mitigation.
Benchmark Participation Expands: Participating marketers increased from 54 to 86 in Q1 2026, with active contributors reaching 66.
The findings suggest the performance gap is becoming increasingly structural. The report identified consistent differences in supply concentration, measurement coverage, and quality control practices across quarters between higher- and lower-performing advertisers.
Developed in partnership with TAG TrustNet and Fiducia, the ANA Programmatic Transparency Benchmark provides quarterly, impression-level insights into programmatic media cost, quality, and performance. Built on log-level data from leading advertisers and platforms, the Benchmark helps marketers identify waste, optimize quality, and improve outcomes across web, mobile, and CTV environments.
For more information about participating in the ANA Programmatic Transparency Benchmark, visit www.fiducia.eco/benchmark or contact programmatic@ana.net.
PRESS CONTACT:
Jocelyn Weiss
ABOUT THE ANA
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) is the definitive voice of the marketing industry. Since 1910, the ANA has set and advanced the agenda for marketing transformation, connecting over 1,600 member companies to an influential global network of insights and resources that drive growth. ANA members represent 20,000 brands and $400 billion in annual marketing investment. Through industry-leading research, the CMO Growth Council, and the ANA Growth Agenda, the ANA empowers marketers to shape the future of marketing and create lasting impact for their organizations and the industry.
ABOUT TAG TrustNet
Launched by TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group), the global certification program to strengthen safety and transparency in digital advertising, and developed in partnership with technology partner Fiducia, TAG TrustNet is the always-on industry utility for connecting and matching impression log-level data (LLD) at scale. As a global cross-industry initiative, TAG TrustNet automates the reconciliation of impression-level data across the supply chain and generates a unified record for every single ad impression, made available in near real time.
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