When ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity started answering questions instead of sending users to websites, it marked more than a technological leap. It signaled a behavioral one.
The way audiences discover information is changing. The way advertisers reach them must change too. For years, the open web was where discovery and monetization happened. However, as AI compresses search and users migrate to apps and connected TV (CTV), attention and the ad dollars that follow it are being redistributed.
The future of performance lies in environments that combine identity, measurement, and attention. Those environments are apps and CTV.
This is the final installment of our two-part exploration into how AI is reshaping publisher traffic, ad revenue, and monetization models in the post-search era. You can read the first part for context.
From clicks to context: web is losing its grip
Apps are the new open web: smarter, measurable, and built for attention. While the web loses reach, apps and CTV are gaining time and trust. They are where discovery has become experience and where engagement is quantifiable.
Statista reports that in-app ad formats such as rewarded video, playable ads, and branded audio achieve 2–3× higher engagement rates than standard display banners on the mobile web.
And unlike web environments, apps have near-zero ad blocking, while 42% of desktop users deploy ad blockers that suppress visibility and measurement.
Source: Statista
On the connected TV side, GroupM forecasts that CTV ad budgets will surpass $30 billion in the U.S. by 2026, driven by audience targeting, brand safety, and creative control.
Both CTV and apps share the same fundamentals: logged-in environments, stable identity, immersive formats, and measurable attention.
Efficiency and ROI: where budgets are actually moving
Advertisers are following outcomes, not nostalgia. App ecosystems offer a rare combination: lower CPMs and higher ROI. According to eMarketer, in-app CPMs are 20–40% lower than mobile web, even as engagement metrics outperform. MAGNA projects that retail media and in-app advertising will collectively exceed $110 billion in global spend this year, a reflection of efficiency-driven reallocation.
Source: eMarketer
App inventory delivers stronger engagement at lower cost, driving higher ROI per impression. In simple terms, advertisers get more impact per dollar in app and CTV environments.
The supply is abundant, the measurement is cleaner, and the optimization feedback loop is stronger. Instead of chasing open-web scale, brands are now optimizing for clarity, control, and measurable outcomes.
Efficiency in 2025 isn’t about cheap inventory; it’s about accountable performance.
How publishers are rebuilding the monetization stack
Infrastructure has become a strategy. Publishers that once competed on traffic volume are now competing on signal quality, specifically the accuracy, depth, and verifiability of their data in the programmatic bid stream. Modern SDKs now act as real-time translators between content and demand. An SDK-enriched bid request tells advertisers everything they need to know: content type, device context, and session depth, allowing DSPs to bid confidently and at higher prices.
IAB Tech Lab (2025) data shows that OM SDK adoption (Open Measurement SDK) improves verified viewability and reduces fraud risk, unlocking premium demand.
AI-powered SDKs also enable dynamic floor pricing and real-time traffic shaping, which can lift yield by up to 30%. This shift isn’t about monetizing content; it’s about monetizing context.
Publishers are no longer defined by their pageviews, but by the precision of their infrastructure.
Attention is the new currency
Viewability is table stakes. Attention is the differentiator.
Attention metrics quantify what traditional analytics can’t: how long an ad is seen, how deeply it’s processed, and how it influences action.
Lumen Research conducted in 2025 found that high-attention placements drive 70% higher brand recall, while Adelaide reports a 40% lift in purchase intent for attention-optimized campaigns.
It’s no surprise that 72% of major advertisers plan to integrate attention scores into their media planning by the end of 2025.
In-app and CTV environments dominate here, combining immersive formats (sound-on, full-screen) with session-based measurement.
These are the channels that can actually prove engagement, not just claim it.
Action framework: what advertisers and publishers should do now
- Websites are declining in traffic: AI search, Google’s summaries, and generational shifts are reducing reach and referral volume.
- Apps deliver superior engagement: rewarded video, playable ads, and native formats drive stronger attention and better brand outcomes.
- Apps provide cost efficiency with higher ROI: lower CPMs, cleaner measurement, and stable identity signals make app ecosystems the best value for brand performance.
- This combination of better performance + lower cost makes apps the most strategic channel for modern branding campaigns.
Source: eMarketer
Conclusion: the web isn’t dying. It’s evolving
AI didn’t destroy the web; it simply redirected attention to where engagement lives.
For advertisers, the browser is no longer the center of gravity; apps and CTV are.
These are spaces where people lean in, where signals are authentic, and where performance is measurable.
The future of advertising isn’t about chasing clicks. It’s about building continuity, cultivating attention, and investing where audiences actually are.
Because in the attention economy, value follows focus, and right now, all eyes are on apps and CTV.