Publishers facing traffic declines from artificial intelligence-powered search summaries might have one engaging tool to fight back.
“Video can’t that easily be replaced by an AI summary. Even if you do video to text and you can summarize it, it doesn’t replace the experience of watching a video,” Shachar Orren, co-founder, CRO and CMO at EX.CO, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan. “Publishers that invest in video can really grow engagement on the page and create a better experience.”
This positions video as both a defensive tactic against zero-click content discovery and offensive strategy for increasing on-page engagement when users do visit sites.
Scale and intelligence define 2026 strategy
Solid video strategies require two components, Orren said, pointing to a mix of scaling streams and applying metrics and insights to determine relevance to viewers.
“Scale is really how do I scale video across all of the pages of my website? Going back to fighting the AI and zero click,” Orren said. “The intelligence part is making sure the video is relevant to the user, to the page.”
EX.CO uses machine learning to power video-to-page matching and programmatic auction predictions that inform revenue strategy decisions. Formerly known as Playbuzz, EX.CO is billed as the smarter video technology built to maximize revenue across every screen—web, mobile, CTV, and DOOH. Trusted by leading media groups worldwide, including Advance Local, Hearst Newspapers, Motorsport Network, The Arena Group, and Ziff Davis, EX.CO delivers industry-leading monetization through its online video platform and machine-learning yield engine.
While no publisher likely achieves video on every page, EX.CO targets complete coverage through three approaches. The first involves diversifying content sources to include AI-generated and automated solutions; expanding formats beyond horizontal units to include vertical video; and deploying matching engines that scan page content to pair relevant videos automatically.
“There are a lot of publishers who produce great editorial video, but that’s expensive,” Orren noted. “It takes a lot of time. That usually would cover 20-, 30% of their pages if they’re lucky. But now, with AI generated video, with automated video solutions, there are other ways to scale video content.”
CTV faces web’s past challenges
Connected TV companies confront fragmentation issues that web publishers addressed five to 10 years ago, with 80-85% of impressions now trading programmatically in 2026 despite traditional focus on direct campaigns, Orren said.
As CTV rises, advertisers and publishers are once again dealing with a very fragmented ecosystem “and broken pipes. The signals are unreliable and a lot of premium demand can get lost,” Orren said.
EX.CO is attempting to address those problems by trying to fix the CTV infrastructure with its promise of ensuring smooth data flow without metadata mismatches. Orren also said that EX.CO is applying machine learning yield engines that generate billions of auction predictions daily.
Programmatic predictions
The company’s machine learning engine identifies which demand partners to call and how to fill ad slots. For example, it can find a 60-second slot that uses one 60-second ad or two 30-second ads, making “video-first decisions” that improve CPMs and fill rates.
“Our machine learning yield engine creates billions of predictions in the programmatic auction every day. It really helps make the auction a lot smarter,” Orren said.
EX.CO’s teams optimize on the demand side to prevent revenue loss, combining technological solutions with human oversight.
Adaptation drives survival
Annual industry threats, from Facebook traffic restrictions to Google algorithm changes to current AI challenges, force content consumption and creation evolution that creates adaptation opportunities.
“Every year there’s something new,” Orren said. “This industry constantly evolves and there’s always a new threat. Every threat is an opportunity. After 12 years in the industry, we always try to adapt and innovate with our partners around these challenges to help them find the next path.”
