• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, May 12, 2026

Despite everything advertisers hear about the benefits of performance using agentic and generative AI in ad campaigns, marketers face challenges finding the budgets, implementing the technology, and understanding exactly how it works.

Taboola commissioned a survey of 200 marketers responsible for performance strategies at their respective organizations released Tuesday, but the study was released under the name "Realize," the company's performance ad platform. The survey consists of answers from U.S. and UK companies’ employee of at least 1,000, with a monthly marketing budget of $300,000 or more. The companies focus on ecommerce, banking and finance, automotive, and health & pharma. The survey was fielded online by Global Surveyz Research, an independent global research firm. Responses were collected in March 2026.

Fifty-four percent of marketers surveyed say the major barrier to broader adoption of agentic AI in campaign management is in the difficulty of integrating these solutions into existing technology and workflows. Twelve percent cite the lack of team knowledge or expertise, 9% are uncertain about the technology or vendor to choose, and 6% cite budget constraints.

Barriers do not end with the majority. Five percent cite insufficient investments in training leads to barriers, along with 5% citing skepticism from certain teams, and 4% cite leadership misalignment on priorities.

When analyzing responses of those who identified difficulty integrating agentic AI into their existing workflows by their company’s approximate total monthly budget, the results showed integration challenges appear to rise with marketing spend.

Only 9% of organizations spend between $300,000 and $499,000 per month cite workflow integration as the key barrier to agentic adoption, but it rises to 38% among those spending between $500,000 and $999,000.

It becomes the major issue for larger advertisers, 74% of those spending between $1 million and $4.9 million, and 68% that spend $5 million or more.  This variance suggests as programs scale and operations become more complex, integrating agentic AI into established processes becomes the most critical adoption hurdle.

It doesn't end there, with 5% saying insufficient investments in training leads to barriers, along with 5% who say skepticism from certain teams, and 4% cite leadership misalignment on priorities.

When analyzing responses of those who identified difficulty integrating agentic AI into their existing workflows by their company’s approximate total monthly budget, the results showed integration challenges appear to rise with marketing spend.

Only 9% of organizations spend between $300,000 and $499,000 per month cite workflow integration as the key barrier, but it rises to 38% among those spending between $500,000 and $999,000.

It becomes the major issue for larger advertisers, 74% of those spending between $1 million and $4.9 million, and 68% that spend $5 million or more.  This variounance suggests as programs scale and operations become more complex, integrating agentic AI into established processes becomes the most critical adoption hurdle.

Data does show a "massive pent-up demand for agentic AI" outside of search and social. While 76% of advertisers see significant return on investments (ROI) from agentic AI, that success is currently "locked" within walled gardens. Eighty percent of performance marketers want to use agentic advertising in channels other than walled gardens.

In all fairness, Taboola's executives describe its services as an advertising company that provides sponsored content across the open web, but it makes sense why marketers, clients or not, would want similar agentic services for any website.

Still, 86% say they would consider reallocating up to 25% of budgets if AI capabilities were available. In other words, marketers want the same AI-powered automation they rely on in search and social to run across the open web.

While only 4% of companies participating in the survey currently invest significantly in the open web, about 25% of their performance marketing budget, at least 39% of them say they would invest more than 26% of their budget if agentic AI-powered campaign solutions existed for it, which could drive a substantial reallocation toward the open web for many advertisers. 

Seventy-six percent of advertisers described moderate to significant performance increases because of AI-powered tools like Meta’s Advantage+ and Google’s Performance Max.

Seventy-six percent see what the survey described as "meaningful improvements" in performance because of using these tools, with 29% reporting a significant lift and 47% reporting a moderate lift.

While automation and accurate data should increase the probability of improved performance, a small share of respondents reported only a 7% lift, while another 17% admit to measuring outcomes, but it’s too early to determine the impact.