Dedicated interactive and localized ad formats are the new focus in CTV arms race

Amazon, for example, launched location-based interactive video ads during its UnBoxed conference earlier this month; the feature allows advertisers to flight localized content through a single buy and can automatically add “Send to Phone” or “Sign up today” interactive buttons to video creative assets. The formats are currently available only on Prime Video inventory.

“We want to expand access to premium streaming environments for local and regional advertisers,” said Jenn Donohue, director of local ad sales at Amazon Ads. “We’re able to turn a national campaign into 1000s of local opportunities.”

Disney, meanwhile, recently added formats such as Pause+, which can host trivia games or discount offers, and “Virtual Concession Stand” to a lineup that includes Shop The Stream and Magic Words. And Tubi and Samsung TV added new interactive ad formats in spring, while Reddit staged its first interactive ad unit, for a campaign promoting new Edgar Wright flick The Running Man; its execs expect the appeal of that format to extend beyond the entertainment category in the future. 

“We’re focusing on building more bespoke and custom experiences with our priority and premier advertisers, and then picking up learnings from those builds to inform templates which we’ll eventually, productize and make programmatically available for all advertisers,” said Andy Schneider, head of scale and innovation at Reddit’s KarmaLab unit.

Some brands and buyers see the less intrusive examples of interactive and shoppable ads – ones that go beyond the typical QR code – as a way of threading the needle between TV’s mass audience potential and direct response. “Most interactive formats offer advertisers real estate for consistent branding, key art, and calls-to-action,” said Vicky Choi, vp of national digital investment at Canvas Worldwide, in an email. 

As such, she said the agency had increased its spending on the ads this year, and expected to do so again in 2026. “We’ve scaled interactive formats from 10% share of partner spend to 30% in 2025 alone and expect to scale further in 2026 by expanding our partner list and testing new formats,” she added.

While SME and local advertisers have favored direct response ads, porting the same capability into a TV environment has often proven beyond their means. 

The interactive format releases have piled up as streamers look for new ways to shake cash out of a cautious autumnal ad market. They’ve also come as streamers attempt to open up TV advertising to the smaller brands which underpin the business models of the walled gardens; Comcast’s launch of Universal Ads earlier this year was motivated by an ambition to democratize television.

Amazon has also mounted a determined push to scoop up more dollars from small and medium-sized businesses this year – including the introduction of a single Campaign Manager dashboard, alongside a suite of generative AI creative tools, both intended to reduce barriers to entry.

The latest features have a clear appeal for retailers and other brands that sell through the platform, noted Dom Johnson, associate director of brand media at indie agency Collective Measures. “For brands that do sell on Amazon, this feels like a no brainer,” he said.

Amazon Ads’ Donohue added that the capability would suit advertisers otherwise outside its typically e-commerce dominated customer base, such as car dealerships, as well as national brands lookin to localize their campaigns including petfood brand Purina, which has been using Amazon’s “Geographic Insights and Activation” suite to refine its audience targeting.

Buyers expect to see higher spending from national advertisers adding localized elements to campaigns, or from smaller advertisers running regional activity.

“I think we’ll be seeing a lot more investments in the shoppable and interactive ads,” said Ashley Silver, group director, integrated investment at CrossMedia. 

She estimated that clients currently allowed 10-15% of their CTV spending to interactive or shoppable formats. Crossmedia clients including Planet Fitness have invested higher amounts in interactive ads this year, she noted, for promotional campaigns.

“They’re going to continue to spend into 2026,” she added.