The news: Amazon’s Private Auction is quietly reshaping the CTV landscape by introducing more flexible buying on Prime Video. The format allows smaller advertisers and performance marketers to compete for inventory through open bidding, bypassing the need for costly guaranteed placements. As CPMs decline and the demand for agility rises, this move gives brands better control over pricing and access. Our take: While big brands may still favor premium guarantees, Amazon’s shift reflects broader momentum toward programmatic efficiency. By inviting direct-response buyers into the Prime Video ecosystem, Amazon is not just monetizing scale—it’s redefining what CTV access looks like in 2025.

TikTok shifts away from free traffic for US merchants: The change will require businesses to pay for ads for visibility, but TikTok remains a critical touchpoint.

Prime Video offers show-level ad reporting: The move positions it as a testing ground for streaming’s evolution, where transparency matters as much as viewer data.

Why CPMs are falling at Upfronts: Increased inventory and viewership is causing streamers to soften prices during the buying season.

Efforts to keep TikTok in the US grow, but confidence is low: While Democratic senators and Trump float ideas to extend the April deadline, key players are stepping back.

Advertisers are stepping back from TikTok: CPMs fell significantly YoY, but advertisers should focus on diversification, not total abandonment, for the best results.

Amazon’s ad launch will define streaming for years to come: In less than a year, Prime Video became a top dog in streaming advertising.

30-second TV ad spot costs are falling: Football remains the costliest ad inventory, but viewer pivots to digital are bringing down costs.

Election spending caused CPMs to surge: Faced with high costs and a noisy environment, brands experimented with new channels.

Prime Video ad loads will increase next year, increasing competition: Advertisers can expect higher ad loads across streaming services and lower CPMs as a result.

Amazon’s ad portal crashes during Prime Day: Though sales are unlikely to be impacted, the outage highlighted tensions between Amazon and sellers.

Netflix with ads is trailing streaming rivals: The service is struggling to compete with recent entrant Amazon and has lowered CPMs.

How streaming services are adapting to Amazon’s shakeup: The launch of ads on Prime Video in January has forced Netflix and others to lower CPMs to compete.

A shift toward programmatic direct and PMPs in advertising: Open web spending drives sector growth and is forecast to surpass $50 billion by 2025.

Amazon is shaking up the streaming CPM market: Prime Video ads will launch with $30 CPMs at the end of the month in a sign that streaming ad costs are stabilizing.

The range of costs per thousand on major US streaming services is narrowing as new entrants Netflix and Disney+ come down from their initial ad-tier launch highs in late 2022.

The Hollywood strike is a chance to explore cheaper ad formats: With new content spending plummeting, streamers are sweetening the deal to keep advertisers on board.

In a good sign for TV advertisers, ad-cost inflation slows: Scarcity, rising costs, and newcomers pushing prices up caused ad inflation to soar last year.

Streamers poised to take greater share in US upfront market: Advertising dollars will flow to services such as Hulu, Peacock, Roku, and YouTube TV.

US TV ad spending will decline from next year through 2026 except for a slight uptick in 2024. At the same time, connected TV ad spending will grow at double-digit annual rates, more than offsetting the losses on the traditional side.