# Video advertising: what AI models recommend, September 2026

Gane Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "video advertising platform" and as "connected TV and online video ads platform", six framings each, to six frontier models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/video-advertising/2026-09-expanded

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 9, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/video-advertising/index.md

**Standing:** StackAdapt leads with 32% of first choices; verdict contested. 22 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [StackAdapt](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/stackadapt/index.md) | 32% | 8% | 12 |
| 2 | [LinkedIn Video Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/linkedin-video-ads/index.md) | 27% | 19% | 16 |
| 3 | [Meta Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/meta-ads/index.md) | 23% | 5% | 19 |
| 4 | [YouTube Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/youtube-ads/index.md) | 18% | 5% | 22 |
| 13 | [TikTok Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/tiktok-ads/index.md) | 0% | 44% | 16 |
| 48 | [The Trade Desk](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/the-trade-desk/index.md) | 0% | 50% | 12 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 70 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Opus 5: LinkedIn Video Ads, YouTube Ads; alternatives Meta Ads
- Claude Opus 4.8: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives Meta Ads, YouTube Ads
- GPT-6 Astra: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives MNTN, YouTube Ads
- GPT-5.6 Sol: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives YouTube Ads
- Gemini 3.1 Pro: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives MNTN, Meta Ads, StackAdapt, YouTube Ads
- Perplexity Sonar Pro: StackAdapt; alternatives Demandbase CTV, Vidyard, Wistia

## Sources the answers cite

27 of 36 answers came back with a source list, from 6 of 6 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- support.google.com: 12 answers, 14 citations
- vibe.co: 10 answers, 12 citations
- demandbase.com: 7 answers, 14 citations
- businessofapps.com: 7 answers, 8 citations
- ads.tiktok.com: 6 answers, 7 citations
- guideflow.com: 6 answers, 7 citations
- richads.com: 6 answers, 6 citations
- mountain.com: 5 answers, 10 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://vibe.co/blog/how-to/video-advertising-platforms (7 answers)
- https://richads.com/blog/best-video-ad-networks (6 answers)
- https://madgicx.com/blog/ad-tech-platform-for-video-advertising (5 answers)
- https://businessofapps.com/ads/video (4 answers)
- https://demandbase.com/blog/best-ctv-advertising-platforms (4 answers)
- https://facebook.com/business/ads/facebook-instagram-reels-ads (4 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/video-advertising-software (4 answers)
- https://indiemedia.club/tools/best-video-advertising-networks (4 answers)
- https://mobidea.com/academy/best-video-ad-networks (4 answers)
- https://atlassian.com/blog/loom/video-marketing-platform (3 answers)

## Warned against

- TikTok Ads: 7 of 16 labels negative. "requires an ad-group daily budget above $20 and campaign budgets above $50, making it less flexible for extremely small tests" (GPT-5.6 Sol, budget prompt)
- The Trade Desk: 6 of 12 labels negative. "Avoid The Trade Desk at your size." (Claude Opus 5, paraphrase prompt)
- Google Video Partners: 3 of 3 labels negative. "don't avoid YouTube — just opt out of Video Partners inventory unless you have a specific reason" (Claude Opus 5, negative prompt)
- LinkedIn Video Ads: 3 of 16 labels negative. "Platforms to Avoid with a Limited Budget * LinkedIn Ads: ... notorious for high costs" (Gemini 3.1 Pro, budget prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, September 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/gtm.