The wild west of “growth at all costs” is long gone, replaced by a ruthless focus on profitability and sustainable Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). The shift to retention is driven by the fact that acquiring a new customer costs 5-7 times more than keeping an existing one. As the focus pivots from subscriber growth to expanding revenue through other business models, content licensing and ads. In 2025, Ad-supported plans made up over a quarter of Netflix (34%) and Disney+ (31%) subscriptions, nearly double from 2024. The biggest hurdle? Monetizing your audience effectively without failing ever-tightening privacy regulations and growing user skepticism.
Just because users are happily opting for ad-model subscriptions doesn’t mean they are comfortable with bad ad experiences. Viewers still find them annoying. Ads are now about adding to the whole experience. The larger streaming giants have already introduced interactive campaigns, Amazon led the pack in 2021. When it comes to adverts, there is a risk of being more of a nuisance than adding to the experience. This is why it’s important to be able to get them right. With more regulation than ever before and customers being more aware of their data and how it is being used, context is becoming the new currency.
Content is the new cookie
Privacy regulations have become tighter in the last few years, so gone are the days when cookies could track users and use that information to enhance their experience, like with ads. However, there had to be a pivot and this is where first-party contextual data comes in.
Understanding users’ interactions and your entire catalog enables you to build a comprehensive picture of the consumer and their behaviors. The context of that viewing moment, the genre, the themes, the time of day and the device provide richer, more immediate intent signals than any cookie pixel ever could. This isn’t about who the viewer is, it’s about what they’re engaging with, right now. This is the foundation of 2026 monetization for OTT.
As traditional audience signals weaken due to privacy settings, shared accounts and new or infrequent viewers, knowing what someone is watching, and the moment they’re watching it, often says more than a user profile ever could. Details like genre, tone and viewing environment help advertisers show up in the right moments, in ways that feel relevant and brand-safe, without relying on personal data. In that sense, the content itself becomes a trusted, privacy-friendly asset that supports better targeting, stronger engagement and more valuable ad inventory.
Why Context and Personalization Matter
Behavioural tracking and cookies are dying, which is why behavioural intent is thriving. In 2026, personalization is beyond the recommendations within a row, context is providing dynamic ad experiences. According to one study, it found that 54% gen-z audiences find ads impersonal.
Without context and personalization, experiences flatten. Discovery breaks. Ads become generic. Churn rises. In a world with less data, using what you already have intelligently becomes the differentiator. Context and personalization aren’t workarounds, they’re the foundation of sustainable monetization in a privacy-first world.
Matching Ads to the Right User
Google Cloud found that 64% of viewers are more likely to keep watching the service if ads feel more relevant to them. Contextual and experience-based personalization lets them extract more value from first-party data without over-collecting it, improving engagement and lifetime value at the same time. Personalizing ads, so they reach the right user, isn’t about relying on a single data source. The strongest approaches combine signals to understand who the viewer is, what they care about right now and how best to engage them, without compromising trust or privacy.
When ads use real-time signals, they reveal what the viewer is likely interested in right now, making ads feel timely and relevant, without needing to identify the person behind the screen. The result is advertising that fits naturally into the experience, more engaging for viewers, more effective for advertisers and fully aligned with privacy-first expectations.
The issue with TVs is that usually it’s a shared device, a single account often represents an entire household, meaning a husband, wife and child(ren) are all included into one data profile. Traditional behavioral targeting fails here; it sees the account-level data and serves a toy ad to an adult watching the evening news. Instead of guessing who is in front of the screen based on past cookies, 2026 ad-tech uses contextual signals to identify the active viewer in real-time. By analyzing two primary signals, timing and content intent, product teams can segment audiences with surgical precision without ever needing a personal identifier. It’s “Privacy-by-Design” that actually works, because you aren’t measuring a person, you’re measuring the effective viewing setting.
Relevant ads are one thing, but frequency is another. Customers value ad ‘freshness’, 84% of viewers say that when ads aren’t repeated or rotated from the exact version are useful in making ads feel relevant. Ad repetition is one of the main frustrations for viewers, which can contribute to reduced return visits and churn.
Advertisements are no longer just about filling in the time, it’s about adding to the whole experience. According to Amazon Ads, interactive ads are found to be more engaging with users, 79% did, while 78% say they’re more attention-grabbing and 72% say they feel more relevant. From the late 2010’s, scanning QR codes to now, where you can add products straight to your basket whilst watching content.
Metadata is the secret weapon for monetization
High-quality, granular metadata enables more precise ad placement, improves relevance and performance and ensures ads feel contextual and additive to the viewing experience rather than intrusive.
Different layers of metadata provide various needs for different monetization strategies for example, object layers can provide the information for interactive ads such as ‘Shop the Look’. Sentiment layers can identify the mood of the content, helping match the ads to the content.
It’s not just ads that metadata contributes to successful monetization strategies. In a 2025 Publishing Meta article, up to 40% of licensing revenue is lost because of poor metadata. To get the most out of your catalog, from recommendations to buying new content.
Future of Advertising- Is the tech really ready?
IAB’s 2026 Outlook Study forecasts 13.8% growth in US CTV ad spend in 2026. Targeted ads are not new; however, the tech and the ad inventory are still playing catch-up in some areas. Key players in the UK market are already working on it; for example, in 2025, Channel 4 launched ‘Smart Ad Engine’, a comprehensive GenAI service to make it easier for SMEs to advertise on TV.
The availability of high-quality, addressable inventory still lags behind consumer expectations. Strides have been made in the last few years, but there is still a way to go. Platforms are leveraging IAB-standardized signals to translate entertainment viewing habits into universal ad taxonomies. Using learnings from user behaviour, mapping entertainment into commercial information for ads rather than just using demographics. This allows for more information to be mapped to ad inventory. For example, context may understand that everyone is watching a particular movie, therefore serving the same ad to viewers However systems like XroadMedia’s can have a deeper understanding about the exact reasons why users are watching this movie, taking into consideration all past behaviour of the user, not just that one piece of watch history. A majority of US consumers (57%) favor personalized advertisements over mass marketing when engaging with streaming media. And as services are now focusing on keeping subscribers, rather than acquiring them, it’s important to keep them happy.
XroadMedia can help
Going beyond the UI, a flexible solution like XroadMedia, which can drive results by working with your team to match your ads with the most relevant users. Power your monetization strategies with content intelligence, driving tailored notifications, emails, campaigns, retention, or upsell offers and targeted advertising experiences. Resulting not only in increased user engagement but also in revenue. Get in touch with the personalization experts here.
