--- title: EX.CO’s Shachar Orren on the Future of Video Monetization in 2026 description: EX․CO co-founder & CRO/CMO Shachar Orren recently sat down with Beet.TV to discuss the future of video monetization. image: https://blog.ex.co/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-03-03%20at%203.32.22%20PM.png --- [![EX.CO](https://ex.co/wp-content/themes/tg/assets/images/general/logo-dark.svg "EX.CO Home")](https://ex.co)[Blog](https://blog.ex.co/)Press Release [Get in touch](https://ex.co/contact/) - [Login](https://login.ex.co/login) - [Contact Sales](https://ex.co/contact/) - My Platform - Technology - [OVP](https://ex.co/ovp/) - [Monetization](https://ex.co/monetization/) - [CMS](https://ex.co/cms/) - [Player](https://ex.co/player/) - [Vertical](https://ex.co/vertical-player/) - Solutions - [Publishers](https://ex.co/publishers/) - [CTV/DOOH](https://ex.co/ad-server/) - [Sales Houses](https://ex.co/ad-partners/) - [Advertisers](https://ex.co/advertisers/) - Resources - [Case Studies](https://ex.co/case-study/) - [Blog](https://blog.ex.co/) - [Help Center](https://support.ex.co/) - [Industry Guides](https://ex.co/guides/) - [Glossary](https://content.ex.co/glossary) - [Get in touch](https://ex.co/contact/) - [Contact Sales](https://ex.co/contact/) - Company - [About us](https://ex.co/about/) - [Leadership](https://ex.co/leadership-team/) - [Careers](https://ex.co/careers/) - [Press Room](https://ex.co/about/news/) # EX.CO’s Shachar Orren on the Future of Video Monetization in 2026 March 12, 2026 - by [Tammy Blythe Goodman](https://blog.ex.co/author/tammy-blythe-goodman) ![Shachar Orren | EX․CO ](https://blog.ex.co/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-03-03%20at%203.32.22%20PM.png "Shachar Orren | EX․CO ") For media owners, it’s never business as usual. The nonstop changes in the industry often bring disruption rather than stability. “I feel like every year there's something new. This industry constantly evolves and there's always a new threat,” noted EX.CO co-founder and CRO/ CMO Shachar Orren in a conversation with Beet.TV. She pointed to AI as the latest and most significant monetization challenge, driving zero-click content discovery and contributing to [traffic declines of 20% or more](https://digiday.com/sponsored/the-ai-traffic-cliff-is-proving-why-revenue-resilience-matters/) for many publishers. Yet these pressures are also creating a chance to rethink how to capture attention and where sustainable value will come from. For Orren, video is one of the clearest defenses against the AI traffic cliff. (Access our industry guide: “[Navigating the AI Traffic Cliff: The Publisher Playbook](https://content.ex.co/navigating-the-ai-traffic-cliff-ex.co)”). While AI can transcribe clips and generate basic summaries, it still can’t replicate the full experience of watching a video — the visuals, pacing, tone, and emotional impact that hold attention. “Even if you do video to text, and you can summarize it,” she said, “it doesn’t replace the experience of watching.” In a landscape where AI overviews are skimming value from written content, video remains harder to commoditize — driving longer time spent, deeper engagement, and stronger monetization opportunities for [publishers](https://ex.co/publishers/).   ## What media owners need to compete in the years ahead So what does an effective video strategy look like in 2026? To ensure success, Orren points to two essentials: intelligence and scale. Intelligence involves making sure every video fits its context and driving that placement with a sophisticated [monetization](https://ex.co/monetization/) engine. As Orren explained, “A lot of what we do is using machine learning to power both. It’s the matching of a video to a page as well as all the decisioning and predictions that go into the programmatic auction that help with the revenue strategy.” Getting this right ensures videos align with user intent, maximizing performance. Scale, meanwhile, is about spreading video across all the pages of a site. With more video content on more pages, publishers can counter AI-driven zero-click trends while boosting engagement and revenue. “When we talk about scale, we aspire to [100% video coverage](https://blog.ex.co/digital-publishing/100-percent-video-coverage),” Orren said. “I don’t know if anyone in the world really has video on every single page…but that’s what we aspire to.” Reaching that level of consistency hingeson three factors: **1. Video sources:** “A lot of publishers produce great editorial video,” Orren noted, “but that’s expensive. It takes a lot of time.” As a result, traditionally produced video typically covers only 20–30% of pages. To truly scale, publishers need additional sources of content. “With AI-generated video and automated video solutions, there are other ways to scale video content and have more content for your pages.” These tools push video far beyond what any newsroom can create manually. **2. Format:** Video can’t be limited to a single player. Diversifying formats — horizontal, vertical, short-form, interactive — opens new placements and deepens audience connection. [Vertical video](https://ex.co/vertical-player/) in particular, Orren said, introduces “a new, fresh experience for your users,” allowing video to fit naturally across different layouts and article types. **3. Relevance:** Scale only works if every video remains contextually aligned. Manual matching isn’t realistic at volume, and misalignment is inevitable without automation. “You’re reading an article about basketball and you have a video about football,” Orren said. “It’s sports, but the reader is not going to like that.” Publishers need an engine that scans each page and automatically selects the most appropriate video. “Considering these three elements,” Orren emphasized, “that’s really the way to make sure you scale correctly.” ## The opportunity ahead for CTV and digital out-of-home Narrowing the focus from web video to [CTV and DOOH](https://ex.co/ad-server/), Orren said the biggest opportunity is improving programmatic revenue. These sectors once relied on direct campaigns, but in 2026, “it’s about 80 to 85% of impressions traded programmatically within CTV,” she explained. The challenge is a fragmented ecosystem — with unreliable signals, mismatched metadata, and broken pipes — which leads to lost premium demand and undermines buyer trust in inventory. EX.CO, Orren explained, helps solve this in two key ways: **1. Repairing the fragmented programmatic infrastructure:** EX.CO works with media companies to ensure data flows cleanly and consistently — no mismatched metadata, no dropped signals, no leaky pipes. “It’s something our technology knows how to do from years of experience on the web,” Orren noted. **2. Using an advanced, predictive yield engine:** Once the pipes are functioning properly, EX.CO applies its machine learning yield engine, which makes billions of predictions per day to strengthen auction performance. The system helps determine which demand partners to call, how to best fill an ad slot, and countless other video-first decisions designed to maximize CPMs and fill rates for CTV partners. ## From disruption to innovation From Facebook shifts to Google algorithm updates (and now AI), the media landscape is never short on challenges. For Orren, these disruptions aren’t something to fear: “Every year there’s a new threat… but it means the way content is consumed and thus created is evolving and it’s changing. Every threat is an opportunity.” With 12 years in the industry, EX.CO helps media companies navigate these changes and find the next path forward, and Orren added, “I’m really excited about that.” *Want to speak with a machine learning yield engine expert? Drop us a line below.* ### Speak to an expert ## Recent posts ## About Tammy Blythe Goodman Tammy Blythe Goodman is VP, Brand Marketing & Communications at EX.CO. Prior to joining EX․CO in 2022, Tammy managed global communications at Taboola, Innovid, and SpotX, respectively. She has an MFA in Film from Columbia University and a BA in Communications and Literature from American University. Tammy lives in New York City and is a proud rescue dog owner and passionate pluviophile. [More posts by Tammy Blythe Goodman](https://blog.ex.co/author/tammy-blythe-goodman) ## Topics [Monetization](https://blog.ex.co/tag/monetization), [Revenue](https://blog.ex.co/tag/revenue), [Video Content](https://blog.ex.co/tag/video-content), [CTV](https://blog.ex.co/tag/ctv), [ad server](https://blog.ex.co/tag/ad-server), [Yield Engine](https://blog.ex.co/tag/yield-engine), ## Sign up to our newsletter [Back to Blog Home](https://blog.ex.co/) [![logo](https://blog.ex.co/hubfs/images/logos/exco/EXCO_Logo_Color_200w.png)](https://ex.co) [![LinkedIn](https://ex.co/wp-content/themes/tg/assets/images/parts/footer/icon-linkedin.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/excoplatform) [![X](https://ex.co/wp-content/themes/tg/assets/images/parts/footer/icon-twitter-x.svg)](https://twitter.com/excoplatform) [![YouTube](https://ex.co/wp-content/themes/tg/assets/images/parts/footer/icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc99IT0x9Za1uQ_r8b1PwXQ?view_as=subscriber) Platform - [OVP](https://ex.co/ovp/) - [Ad Server](https://ex.co/ad-server/) - [Monetization](https://ex.co/monetization/) - [Content](https://ex.co/content/) - [Player](https://ex.co/player/) - [Vertical](https://ex.co/vertical-player/) Solutions - [Publishers](https://ex.co/publishers/) - [Advertisers](https://ex.co/advertisers/) - [Sales Houses](https://ex.co/ad-partners/) - [CTV/DOOH](https://ex.co/ad-server/) Resources - [Case Studies](https://ex.co/case-study/) - [Blog](https://blog.ex.co/) - [Help Center](https://support.ex.co/) - [Industry Guides](https://ex.co/guides/) - [Glossary](https://content.ex.co/glossary) Company - [Contact](https://ex.co/contact/) - [About us](https://ex.co/about/) - [Press Room](https://ex.co/about/news/) - [Careers](https://ex.co/careers/) - [Events](https://ex.co/events/) Sign up to our newsletter ![Google Certified Publishing Partner](https://ex.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/logo-google.svg) ![ISO/IEC 27001-2002 Certified Company. 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