Local advertising is undergoing a major realignment due to multiple digital disruptions. AI-powered search and discovery are rewriting how consumers find nearby businesses, connected TV (CTV) is bringing precision targeting and polish to local budgets once reserved for national campaigns, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) is attracting record investment. This FAQ breaks down how these shifts are converging in 2026 and what they mean for marketers planning local media strategies across search, CTV, and OOH.

What is local marketing and how big is the US local ad market?

Local marketing encompasses the strategies businesses use to reach consumers within a specific geographic area, whether through search ads, out-of-home displays, CTV, social media, or traditional broadcast. It serves everyone from single-location restaurants to multi-location franchises and national brands with regional campaigns.

The US local advertising market will reach $184.5 billion in 2026, according to BIA Advisory Services. Digital channels now claim more than half of that spending, driven by growth in CTV and programmatic DOOH. High-visibility local brands grow revenue at two to three times the rate of the average company, according to SOCi's Local Visibility Index, cited by EMARKETER.

How is AI changing local search and discovery?

AI is restructuring how consumers discover local businesses across platforms. Google Maps, which reaches 56.4% of the US audience and captures 84.1 minutes per month of usage per Comscore, rolled out its biggest update in a decade in March 2026. Immersive Navigation adds AI-powered 3D visuals, while a Gemini-powered "Ask Maps" feature handles local queries conversationally. Promoted pins and map search ads give brands new inventory tied to high-intent local searches.

Social platforms are following suit. TikTok launched a local content feed in March 2026 for users who share their location, adding hyperlocal discovery alongside the main "For You" page. Some 54% of TikTok users aged 25 to 44 have gathered more information about a product after seeing it on TikTok, according to an October 2025 Edison Research survey cited by EMARKETER.

Why are local advertisers shifting budgets from linear TV to CTV?

Local linear TV is losing audiences and ad dollars at an accelerating pace. Local cable TV ad spending fell nearly 20% in 2025, according to EMARKETER. Streaming captured 47.5% of TV viewing time in December 2025, per Nielsen, cited by EMARKETER, more than double the time spent with cable (20.2%). Cord-cutter and cord-never households now account for over two-thirds of US households.

CTV spending is absorbing much of that reallocation. US CTV ad spending will grow 15.1% in 2026, according to the EMARKETER’s forecast. In local markets specifically, CTV advertising will reach roughly $3.6 billion in 2026, excluding political, per BIA Advisory Services, as reported by MediaPost. In 2025, CTV commanded 19% of local TV ad spending.

How does CTV enable precision targeting for local businesses?

CTV replaces the assumptions of traditional TV buying with identity-based targeting. Instead of pairing ads with content categories or time slots, advertisers reach specific, addressable audiences based on behavioral signals like homeownership, renovation interest, and family size, per EMARKETER.

This precision relies on identity resolution technology. Companies like MadHive and Datonics use a four-layer identity graph connecting browser activity, devices, people, and households into a unified view, according to EMARKETER. The result is scaled reach without wasted impressions, even for small businesses.

CTV also closes the measurement gap that plagued linear. Marketers can connect ad exposure to outcomes through pixel tracking, footfall attribution, and brand lift studies. As MadHive's Murphy VandeMotter told EMARKETER, "CTV can be held to the same accountability of other digital channels like display and audio."

What role does digital out-of-home play in local advertising?

Out-of-home advertising (OOH) is experiencing a surge of investment and consolidation. US OOH ad revenue reached $9.1 billion in 2024, a 4.5% increase and the first time the medium crossed $9 billion, according to the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA). Digital formats (DOOH) accounted for 34% of total OOH spending that year and are growing faster than traditional formats, per the OAAA.

US DOOH ad spending will reach nearly $4.77 billion in 2026, a 14.0% lift from 2025, per EMARKETER forecasts. M&A activity reinforces confidence in the channel: Mubadala Capital and TWG Global announced plans to acquire Clear Channel Outdoor for $6.2 billion in early 2026, taking the OOH leader private, as reported by EMARKETER.

How is programmatic buying transforming OOH for local advertisers?

Programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) is solving one of OOH's biggest pain points: opaque buying processes that relied on spreadsheets, emails, and phone calls. Programmatic DOOH will cross $1.23 billion by 2026, EMARKETER forecasts.

Two developments in 2025 and 2026 illustrate the shift:

• StackAdapt's platform upgrade. The company rolled out map views, screen previews, and venue-level pricing for DOOH buyers, per EMARKETER. Advertisers can now see where screens are, preview what a display looks like, and target specific locations rather than broad regions.
• Outfront Media's AdQuick investment. Outfront is investing up to $20 million in AdQuick, a digital marketplace for buying OOH inventory, to let advertisers plan and purchase its roughly 500,000 displays through one consolidated platform, per EMARKETER.

For local advertisers, programmatic buying means OOH can be planned, measured, and optimized alongside CTV and digital display.

What challenges do local marketers face with channel fragmentation in 2026?

The expansion of addressable channels creates operational complexity. Local marketers now manage campaigns across Google Search and Maps, social platforms (TikTok, Meta, Instagram), multiple CTV providers, and DOOH networks, each with distinct ad formats, measurement standards, and buying interfaces.

Measurement remains the central challenge. Attribution windows and methodologies vary across platforms, making cross-channel comparison difficult. Some 38% of ad buyers cite understanding generative AI as a major challenge, up 14 points from 2024, per the IAB's 2026 Outlook study. At the same time, 73% of marketers are prioritizing content optimized for AI-generated answers, per the same study, a signal that AI search optimization is becoming table stakes alongside traditional local SEO.

Linear TV budgets are declining but not disappearing. Political spending in midterm years temporarily stabilizes local broadcast, while national events like the Winter Olympics provide short-term lift. The challenge is rebalancing spend across legacy and emerging channels without losing reach.

How should local marketers allocate budgets across search, CTV, and OOH in 2026?

Start with a presence on search and maps, which remain the foundation of local visibility. High-visibility brands appear on page one in local search results 53.2% of the time, compared with 23.6% for the average company, according to SOCi's Local Visibility Index, cited by EMARKETER. Google Business Profile optimization, review management, and maps-native ad formats deliver high-intent reach at relatively low cost.

Add CTV campaigns for precision and reinforcement. Start with retail media networks or ad tech partners who serve markets where you have existing geographic data to benchmark performance. CTV targeting through identity graphs reduces waste compared to broad linear buys. Test with a single market before scaling.

Add programmatic DOOH for engaging customers when they’re outside and close to making an in-store purchase. OOH reaches up to 89% of the US population weekly, per Talon, cited by EMARKETER. Programmatic buying in OOH enables the same kind of transparency and targeting that buyers expect on other digital channels. Challenge ad tech partners to produce unified reporting across all three channels to measure incremental lift rather than channel-level metrics alone.

We prepared this article with the assistance of generative AI tools and stand behind its accuracy, quality, and originality.

EMARKETER forecast data was current at publication and may have changed. EMARKETER clients have access to up-to-date forecast data. To explore EMARKETER solutions, click here.