Media Quality Gets Redefined for 2026: What PR and Comms Leaders Need to Do Now
Media experts are recalibrating what "quality" means as social platforms, creator content, and digital video dominate attention - with AI sitting in the middle of it all. The latest Industry Pulse Report from Integral Ad Science signals a clear direction for next year: protect the brand, measure everything, and treat AI-generated content as a top-tier operational priority.
In short: the plan for 2026 is control with intent. Measure media quality across social and CTV, set higher standards for creator partnerships, and actively monitor AI-generated content across channels.
The Signal: Stats PR and Comms Can't Ignore
- AI adoption and oversight
61% are excited about AI's role in digital media and new ad opportunities within gen-AI content.
83% see the rise of AI-generated content on social as a serious concern needing close monitoring.
84% say third-party verification will be important to identify and classify AI-generated content on social; 86% say the same for digital video. - Social and video take the lead
88% cite digital video as a top priority, outranking display and audio.
84% confirm social media as a top priority.
87% say brand safety and creator suitability are essential when advertising near digital video content.
82% say creator suitability is equally important on social as adjacency risks rise. - Media quality = performance foundation
86% say identifying, classifying, targeting, and avoiding AI-generated content will be needed on digital video platforms.
83% say measuring ad fraud, viewability, and suitability drives outcomes in retail media networks.
83% agree ad fraud and brand suitability will be a major concern as CTV inventory grows.
69% cite ad content adjacency as a major challenge, with risky content, deepfakes, and AI-generated content topping the list; influencer/creator content follows closely.
"2026 marks a turning point in digital advertising. As the boundaries between channels blur - and AI reshapes how content is created, consumed, and measured - industry experts are redefining what quality means in this new era," said IAS CEO Lisa Utzschneider. "The industry's challenge lies in balancing digital innovation with control - ensuring every impression drives trust and performance."
What This Means for PR and Communications
Your media placements are now part ad ops, part reputation risk management. PR and Comms teams need tighter controls around creator partnerships, clearer standards for AI content, and stronger verification across social and streaming environments.
- Build an AI content policy for owned and paid content: usage rules, disclosure, detection tools, and escalation paths.
- Require third-party verification that can flag and classify AI-generated content across social, digital video, and CTV.
- Tie media buys to brand safety, suitability, and measurement clauses. Make quality metrics part of campaign KPIs, not an afterthought.
- Stand up a deepfake response plan: detection vendors, legal guidance, spokesperson protocols, and rapid distribution of corrections.
- Partner with paid media to predefine adjacency controls (contextual categories, exclusion lists) and creator suitability criteria.
Influencer and Creator Content: Raise the Bar
With 87% citing creator suitability as essential near digital video and 82% saying it's equally critical on social, your creator framework needs more than a surface-level brand fit. Treat suitability like compliance.
- Vetting beyond vanity metrics: past content analysis, controversial topics, misinformation exposure, and values alignment.
- Contractual controls: disclosure standards, content approvals for sensitive topics, takedown rights, and crisis cooperation.
- Always-on monitoring: flagged terms, category exclusions, and real-time alerts for adjacency and sentiment shifts.
- Clear disclosure and endorsement compliance guideposts for creators. See the FTC's Endorsement Guides for expectations and examples: FTC Endorsement Guides.
AI-Generated Content: Monitor, Label, and Mitigate
AI-generated content will keep growing across feeds and streams. The majority of experts want third-party verification to help classify it - that means updating your toolkit and your playbooks.
- Adopt provenance and labeling standards (e.g., C2PA) where available, and ask partners how they detect or disclose synthetic media.
- Include AI-content clauses in media and creator contracts: disclosure, watermarking when possible, and takedown obligations.
- Upgrade social listening to spot deepfakes and synthetic narratives early. Align comms, legal, and security for response.
- Use pre-bid and post-bid controls to avoid risky adjacencies and content categories tied to AI manipulation.
CTV and Retail Media: Quality Controls = Outcomes
CTV inventory is growing, and with it, fraud and suitability risk. Retail media is surging too, but outcomes depend on measurement discipline.
- CTV: push for supply-path transparency, frequency management, and strict suitability settings; test inventory quality before scaling.
- Retail media: require viewability, fraud, and suitability reporting; align on conversion and incrementality definitions before launch.
- Standardize a "quality pack" for every buy: fraud thresholds, viewability floors, suitability categories, and AI-content exclusions.
Make Media Quality a Leadership Metric
Treat media quality like brand trust: measured, reviewed, and tied to investment decisions. Roll up quality metrics and adjacency incidents into monthly executive reporting alongside reach, engagement, and outcomes.
Quick Briefing for Execs
- Social and digital video are the focus for 2026 (88% and 84% respectively).
- Creator suitability is non-negotiable (87% digital video, 82% social).
- AI-generated content needs active monitoring and third-party verification (84% social, 86% digital video).
- CTV growth brings fraud and suitability concerns (83%).
- Retail media performance depends on quality measurement (83% prioritize fraud, viewability, suitability).
"This year's Industry Pulse report reveals a cautious industry looking to prioritize oversight of AI in digital media in 2026, with the bulk of investment still flowing into digital video, social platforms, and a steadily rising interest in using, measuring and determining outcomes around influencer marketing," said Jeremy Kanterman, Vice President of Research and Insights at IAS.
Next Steps for PR and Comms Teams
- Codify creator suitability standards and disclosure compliance.
- Implement AI-content detection and labeling policies across partners.
- Bundle brand safety, suitability, and fraud controls into every insertion order.
- Build a deepfake crisis playbook and rehearse it quarterly.
- Report media quality to leadership as a standing KPI.
If you're upskilling teams on AI risk, content operations, and measurement, explore focused learning paths for marketers: AI Certification for Marketing Specialists.
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