# Video advertising for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "video advertising platform" and as "connected TV and online video ads platform", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/video-advertising/2026-10/smb

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/video-advertising/smb/index.md

**Standing:** LinkedIn Video Ads leads with 24% of first choices; verdict contested. 55 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [LinkedIn Video Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/linkedin-video-ads/index.md) | 24% | 35% | 31 |
| 2 | [YouTube Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/youtube-ads/index.md) | 15% | 9% | 46 |
| 3 | [Meta Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/meta-ads/index.md) | 9% | 2% | 42 |
| 4 | [Vibe.co](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/vibe-co/index.md) | 7% | 11% | 27 |
| 5 | [TikTok Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/tiktok-ads/index.md) | 7% | 26% | 38 |
| 6 | [MNTN](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/mntn/index.md) | 7% | 31% | 13 |
| 8 | [Google Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/google-ads/index.md) | 4% | 7% | 14 |
| 10 | [StackAdapt](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/stackadapt/index.md) | 4% | 29% | 14 |
| 92 | [Roku Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/roku-ads/index.md) | 0% | 60% | 10 |
| 94 | [The Trade Desk](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/the-trade-desk/index.md) | 0% | 80% | 10 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 94 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 Haiku 4.5: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives Google Video, YouTube Ads
- GPT-5.4 mini: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives YouTube Ads
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives Meta Ads, YouTube Ads
- Perplexity Sonar: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives Vibe.co, YouTube Ads
- Grok 4.20: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives YouTube Ads
- Mistral Small: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives Brandzooka, Self-Serve CTV (Connected TV) Platforms
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: LinkedIn Video Ads, YouTube Ads
- Llama 4 Maverick: Brandzooka; alternatives Discord Sponsored Ads, YouTube Ads
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: LinkedIn Video Ads, YouTube Ads; alternatives Meta Ads
- Kimi K2: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives YouTube Ads
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives Meta Ads, YouTube Ads
- MiniMax M2.5: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives Google Ads, YouTube Ads
- GPT-6 Luna: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives YouTube Ads
- Muse Glimmer 30B: LinkedIn Video Ads; alternatives YouTube Ads

## Sources the answers cite

71 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- vibe.co: 38 answers, 62 citations
- adwave.com: 32 answers, 44 citations
- fueler.io: 27 answers, 58 citations
- demandbase.com: 23 answers, 28 citations
- madgicx.com: 23 answers, 23 citations
- guideflow.com: 21 answers, 23 citations
- influencermarketinghub.com: 19 answers, 19 citations
- learn.g2.com: 18 answers, 18 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://vibe.co/blog/how-to/video-advertising-platforms (34 answers)
- https://madgicx.com/blog/ad-tech-platform-for-video-advertising (22 answers)
- https://demandbase.com/blog/best-ctv-advertising-platforms (20 answers)
- https://influencermarketinghub.com/video-advertising/video-ad-platforms (17 answers)
- https://learn.g2.com/best-video-advertising-tools (17 answers)
- https://adwave.com/resources/video-marketing-for-small-business (14 answers)
- https://fueler.io/blog/best-ai-social-media-advertising-platforms-for-small-businesses (14 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/video-advertising-software (13 answers)
- https://gumlet.com/learn/affordable-video-marketing-platforms (13 answers)
- https://heysid.com/resources/best-connected-tv-advertising-platforms (13 answers)

## Warned against

- LinkedIn Video Ads: 11 of 31 labels negative. "its paid video advertising format is notoriously expensive and often delivers poor results for small budgets" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)
- TikTok Ads: 10 of 38 labels negative. "Consider TikTok, but its current Ads Manager minimums—over $50 at campaign level and $20 per ad group—may be awkward for a very small test." (GPT-6 Luna, budget prompt)
- The Trade Desk: 8 of 10 labels negative. "These platforms have complex setup and are not suited for individual advertisers or lean teams without agency infrastructure." (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)
- Basis: 5 of 7 labels negative. "Platforms like Basis and traditional managed DSPs require caution for small businesses" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: Meta Ads (21%) to LinkedIn Video Ads (23%). Margin 13 points, beyond the floor.

- Meta Ads: 21% to 10%, −11. Cleared the floor by 0 points · rank 1 → 3 of 88.
- MNTN: 2% to 8%, +6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 12 → 5 of 88.
- Vibe.co: 13% to 8%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 4 of 88, unchanged.
- LinkedIn Video Ads: 19% to 23%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 2 → 1 of 88.
- TikTok Ads: 8% to 6%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 5 → 6 of 88.
- StackAdapt: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 11 → 8 of 88.
- Google Ads: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 10 of 88.
- YouTube Ads: 17% to 17%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 3 → 2 of 88.
- Roku Ads: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 15 → 87 of 88.
- The Trade Desk: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 102 → 88 of 88.

## Record

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