AdRoll vs RTB House

AdRoll reports 45% drop in prospecting CPMs

AdRoll released its Q3 2026 State of Digital Advertising Report, showing a 45% year-over-year decline in display prospecting CPMs from July 1 to Sept. 8, offering a lower-cost window for holiday marketers before prices typically rise. Display retargeting CPMs fell 29.1% year over year, with a 40.2% drop from Q2. Account-based marketing CPMs increased 4.4% year over year but declined 15.1% from Q2. The report also indicates that despite lower ad prices, consumer spending remains steady, with a 4.5% increase in card spending per household. AdRoll CEO Vibhor Kapoor advises marketers to reallocate budgets based on full-funnel performance. The report includes insights from a study with eTail on retargeting challenges, highlighting that only 13% of retailers successfully bring back over 20% of cart abandoners, and underscores the importance of first-party signals in tailoring messaging.

• AdRoll's Q3 2026 report shows display prospecting CPMs dropped 45% year over year.
• Display retargeting CPMs declined 29.1% year over year and 40.2% from Q2.
• ABM CPMs increased 4.4% year over year but fell 15.1% from Q2.

AdRoll Pilots ChatGPT Ads for Multichannel Reach

AdRoll announced a pilot allowing a select group of AdRoll and AdRoll ABM customers to test advertising placements inside ChatGPT. The pilot aims to help SMB, mid-market and B2B advertisers evaluate how conversational-AI placements complement existing media strategies across the customer journey. Ads are designed to appear below ChatGPT responses when contextually appropriate and — according to OpenAI — do not influence model outputs; OpenAI also keeps conversations private and does not sell user data to advertisers. AdRoll will provide campaign support for participants and said the pilot builds on its multichannel investments, including connected TV, digital out-of-home, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations that connect AdRoll with AI assistants and agentic workflows.

• AdRoll announced a pilot that enables a select group of AdRoll and AdRoll ABM customers to test advertising placements in ChatGPT.
• Ads in ChatGPT appear below the end of a response when contextually appropriate and do not influence ChatGPT's responses.
• OpenAI keeps users' conversations private from advertisers and does not sell user data to advertisers, per the article.

Shoppers burned by bad AI recommendations, survey finds

A SmartCustomer survey of nearly 1,200 US consumers reveals that while 89% don't fully trust AI recommendations, 76% have used AI to make purchases in the past year, and a third made regrettable purchases based on AI advice. Electronics, apparel, and footwear dominate these poor choices. The survey also indicates that 98% believe AI companies hold responsibility for validating sources and legitimacy, and 53% suspect companies of manipulating AI recommendations with false information. Additional findings show gender and generational divides in AI shopping adoption, with men shopping via AI more than women, and Gen Z being more hesitant. Other surveys by YouGov, RTB House, and Gartner corroborate trust issues and consumer preference for human oversight in AI-assisted commerce.

• 76% of consumers have used AI to make purchases in the past year, despite 89% lacking full trust in AI recommendations.
• A third of survey respondents (33%) made a regrettable purchase based on an AI recommendation, with electronics, apparel, and footwear accounting for most bad purchases.
• 98% of respondents believe AI companies should take at least some responsibility for validating the sources of a recommendation and confirming company legitimacy.

How does Agentic AI impact the holiday path to purchase?

New RTB House research, Who’s Buying? Consumer Trust in the Age of Agentic AI, shows that artificial intelligence tools are reshaping Black Friday consumer behavior, turning rapid impulse buying into a longer, AI-guided evaluation period.

Attribution Remains Difficult: First Visit Rarely Leads to Purchase

A new European Shopping Trends Report by RTB House reveals that only 27% of European consumers make a purchase on their first website visit. Half require two to three visits, and 19% need four to five visits. The study, conducted by Censuswide with 4,500 respondents across nine countries, shows that 81% compare multiple brands before buying and 75% visit more than one retailer website. Reasons for abandoning initial visits include price comparison (28%), reading reviews (20%), and seeking promotions (17%). Additionally, 22% of shoppers research online but purchase in physical stores, complicating attribution. AI-based product discovery is emerging, with 21% using services like ChatGPT or Gemini. RTB House argues for longer-term retargeting, while acknowledging that the study measures behavior, not causal effects of retargeting.

• Only 27% of European consumers purchase on their first website visit.
• 81% of respondents consider more than one brand before making a purchase.
• 22% of shoppers research online but complete purchases in physical stores.