The guaranteed era is over. India’s media demands auction-based programmatic buying

India’s internet was never designed to be tidy. It was designed to carry the weight of a billion different habits — languages layered on languages, cheap phones alongside premium TV screens, households that expect value and will switch at the first sign they aren’t getting it.

If you’re a global marketer, that messiness is actually a big opportunity. But tapping it requires a mindset shift: In 2026, the best way to win in India’s fragmented, fast-moving media landscape is through auction-based programmatic media buying.

Two decades ago, buying a campaign meant signing insertion orders and sending them by fax. In that sense, the inflexibility of programmatic guaranteed (PG) media inventory is not so different today.

But sophisticated campaigns have now moved to auction-based programmatic buying, also known as open-market bidding, that lets you define an audience, control frequency and adjust midflight when the facts change.

That’s where the world is heading, and India has joined the race and picked up speed. This shift is already reshaping how brands plan for India’s biggest cultural moments.

Cricket and CTV will shape India’s 2026

Cricket will be the spotlight in 2026. The T20 World Cup runs in February and March, with India’s first match at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai against the U.S. and the India vs. Pakistan fixture in Colombo being appointments that concentrate audience attention at a scale few markets can match.

Live sports are the perfect conduit to showcase why auction-based buying is superior to the guaranteed packages that have dominated Indian media buying for years. Planning for connected screens and layering robust data — perhaps from India’s thriving commerce media ecosystem — can give brands the flexibility to optimize in real time and capture attention when it matters most. Perfect for the unpredictability of sports, but also for consumers’ changing media consumption habits.

Connected TV (CTV) has crossed 129 million users, up more than 87% year on year, with 35 million to 40 million CTV homes now addressable. Advertisers are already shifting budgets accordingly: Industry data shows CTV spend more than tripled between 2022 and 2024.

The big trend is that CTV in India is not a niche anymore — it’s becoming the foundation of reach in a market that’s moving away from linear toward a connected media ecosystem in the blink of an eye.

Indeed, consolidation in the space has reduced friction and widened access to premium content on a national scale. The joint venture combining Disney’s India business with JioCinema — JioStar — went live this year and, for buyers, this matters: fewer gates, more consistent access, stronger signal quality.

As signal quality improves, advertisers are demanding cross-channel measurement and real-time optimization. Modern programmatic can deliver this agility, enabling brands to adjust spend, swap creatives and refine targeting midflight — capabilities that PG simply cannot match.

Accelerating into 2026

Alongside cricket and CTV, commerce media is the other accelerant for open-market bidding in India.

India’s ad market is set for healthy growth in 2026, and retail media is outpacing the field — projected to grow 25% in 2025 and cross ₹30,000 crore ($3.3 billion) by 2026, roughly 15% of total ad revenue. Quick commerce is a major driver here, and retail data is no longer confined to lower-funnel tactics. It’s powering upper-funnel strategies across the open internet, helping brands link ads to measurable business outcomes.

The direction is clear: Every impression should be connected, measurable and addressable.

This doesn’t necessarily make programmatic guaranteed packages wrong. It makes them insufficient. When PG stays the status quo, the cost of inflexibility is likely to shows up on advertisers’ P&L: wasted frequency, limited control and outcomes that depend more on guesswork than on data-led media planning.

Biddable puts the control back in the hands of the media team. It unlocks scale across the open internet, access to premium inventory — all critical in a market as dynamic as India’s.

The question now is whether the industry leans in.

Publishers who make premium moments accessible through programmatic pipes can capture global demand.

Buyers who move past the comfort of guarantees can unlock flexibility and better outcomes.

The future isn’t about chasing the lowest CPM or clinging to old playbooks. India has never been a market that stands still. Next year won’t reward those who cling to guarantees; it’s more likely to reward those who embrace openness and modern, auction-based programmatic buying.

This information is provided solely for background and is not a representation or guarantee of any future performance.