It’s another new year, with lots of new opportunities in the world of digital advertising. As you’ll have noticed, the market is more fragmented than ever, with overcrowded, expensive social media and search channels and fatigued users. For advertisers and performance marketers, taking a fresh approach is essential to grow audiences and conversions.

Instead of reusing the same playbook, the open web offers a path for advertisers to reach high-intent users where they actually spend time, whether that’s reading news, researching products, or engaging with content. Modern platforms offer lots of options for advertisers to deploy their resources more intelligently and strategically than in years past. The new year is a good time to test new platforms as you increase incremental reach and optimize for performance.

That’s where performance advertising platform Realize can help. Realize incorporates deep machine learning and robust first-party data to serve as the go-to solution for brands that demand measurable growth. Customers report increases in return on ad spend (ROAS), reach, and time on site, along with reduced cost-per-click numbers and other essential performance metrics.

Here are five reasons why Realize should be at the heart of your 2026 media mix, with details from users on how they’ve refined their approach with Realize and found success on the open web.

1. Capture Attention and Increase Reach and ROAS with AI-Powered Bidding

Whatever your industry or marketing goals in 2026, efficiency is likely top of mind. Instead of guessing at what ad spending will be weekly, monthly, or quarterly, try a better way. Realize’s Maximize Conversions bidding technology adjusts bids automatically in real time, so you can meet specific goals and use money wisely without overspending. Realize users see improved reach and ROAS by using this feature.

Case in Point: Hospitality group Minor Hotels activated AI-driven native ads and automated bidding in Realize as part of their strategy to drive property bookings beyond search and social. Minor Hotels optimized for high-intent travelers and achieved 5x ROAS using Realize’s features.

Likewise, social publisher and entertainment network Ströer achieved a 3x increase in reach when they adopted Realize’s Maximize Conversions feature. They also saw a 13% increase in page views per session and a 2x increase in revenue per click.

2. Triple Your Lead Generation While Reducing Costs

Lead acquisition on the web happens on an entirely different scale from search engines, which can easily stagnate or return mismatched leads. With Realize, it’s possible to quickly test thousands of creative variations and targeting segments to see what’s working and choose the most efficient way to capture a lead, without going over budget. Built-in generative AI tools mean you can use Realize to test copy, CTAs, and creative separately or in different combinations, to choose the right variations for the audience. Realize users can better target audiences and test hypotheses faster.

Case in Point: Security provider Verisure chose Realize to expand their reach in Latin America. They used both native and display formats with ABBY, Realize’s gen AI creative tool, and tripled lead volume while reducing cost per lead (CPL) by 69% over five months.

3. Reach High-Intent Audiences Beyond the Typical Walled Gardens

Intent is essential when you’re looking for new leads and conversions, and it’s often missing from social and search channel advertising strategies. Open web users are generally in discovery mode, rather than mindlessly scrolling on social media channels. Realize uses first-party behavioral signals to find customers who are ready to engage, based on what they’re actually consuming. Realize users end up with better leads that align with their performance goals.

Case in Point: Energy solutions provider Livguard aimed to find and engage audiences with true consideration intent, rather than the shallow traffic they’d seen from social and over the top (OTT) content delivered directly to users. Livguard chose Realize, and found that users coming from Realize stayed on the site 16% longer than those from paid search, and that those users took 29% more actions per session than those from social media traffic.

For TripAdvisor’s Cruise Critic review platform, using Realize to diversify their media mix led to a 67% lower cost per click (CPC) than their Meta advertising. Realize was also 78% more efficient than Cruise Critic’s CPC benchmark.

4. Outperform Other Performance Channels

Marketers and advertisers have spent years trying to eke out small gains as legacy performance channels grow oversaturated and user journeys become more complex. Taking better advantage of the open web’s opportunities can lead to greater growth numbers that meet or exceed business goals: Realize consistently proves its worth by delivering lower CPAs and higher returns than legacy performance channels.

Case in Point: PortAventura World, one of Europe’s largest leisure destinations, used Realize to increase hotel bookings. They chose the Taboola Pixel for precision retargeting and automated bidding, and achieved a 44% higher ROAS and a 47% lower CPA — that’s compared to all their other performance marketing channels in 2024.

5. Boost Engagement and Revenue Through Better User Experiences

While performance marketers can find a lot of new success with Realize features, it’s also designed to help create better, more seamless user experiences. Realize serves ads that feel like a natural part of the content that users are already consuming, leading to higher engagement rates and increased brand affinity.

Case in Point: Broadcasting network Channel A chose the continuously scrolling Taboola Feed, powered by Realize, to reverse a decline in monthly active users and also increase revenue. The Feed brings a non-disruptive, personalized experience to users, and Channel A saw a 60% increase in RPM and a 40% increase in CTR with Realize.

Meanwhile, grocery store chain Lidl Hellas, along with Project Agora, grew their user engagement metrics when they implemented an always-on Taboola campaign. They saw a 3.6x above average CTR, an increase of 548% pages per session, and a growth of 442% average session duration after choosing Realize.

Your New Year’s Resolution: Scale Smarter in 2026

So, which increased performance metrics will you celebrate at the end of 2026? Whether you’re looking for a 5x ROAS like Minor Hotels, a 69% lower CPL like Verisure, or deeper engagement like Livguard, Realize offers the tools to win on the open web. Rather than sticking with oversaturated, underperforming search and social channels, find performance and scale where engagement is highest.