Display And Video Advertising That Starts With How You Will Prove It

Google Display, YouTube, connected TV, and retargeting, planned by one senior lead. The measurement gets agreed before a single dollar goes out the door.

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Komplex plans and runs display and video advertising from Austin, Texas, with a presence in New York City and Reykjavik. We are a Google Partner and have run digital work for companies from local service businesses to global retail brands. Campaigns run across the Google Display Network, YouTube, connected TV, Demand Gen, and Meta, alongside the paid search and paid social we already manage. One senior lead owns the strategy, the buying, and the reporting, and stays on the account.

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Founded In 2014

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Display And Video Are The First Budgets Cut, Because They Are The Hardest To Prove

Every account has the same argument in it eventually. Search and shopping show a clear line from click to sale. Display and video do not, so when money gets tight they go first, and often they should. What makes that decision impossible is that most reporting on these channels is built to flatter them. A view through conversion counts anyone who saw an ad and later bought, whether the ad moved them or not. Impressions and reach describe delivery, not effect. None of it answers the only question that matters, which is whether you sold more than you would have anyway.

Isometric illustration of a marketer reviewing keyword research as Komplex ranks number one in search results.

So We Settle The Measurement First

Before we plan a campaign we agree what will count as evidence, and we say plainly what the budget can support. At small spend the honest answer is a geo holdout or nothing. At larger spend a platform brand lift study becomes possible. Above that, a proper incrementality test. Deciding this up front changes what we build, because a campaign designed to be measured looks different from one designed to spend. It also means nobody is arguing about attribution six months in, when the budget review arrives and the numbers have to defend themselves.

Talk Through Your Budget

Display And Video Advertising Services, From The Media Plan To The Read

Eight lines of work. Most accounts start with two of them, usually retargeting and one upper funnel channel, because that pairing is the cheapest way to learn something.

Display Campaigns

Banner and image inventory on the Google Display Network and the Microsoft Audience Network, with exclusion lists kept current rather than set once and forgotten.

YouTube Video

Skippable, bumper, in feed, and Shorts, built as a campaign type inside your Google Ads account rather than as a separate media buy nobody can reconcile.

Connected TV

Living room placements through YouTube and Google. We name the spend floor early, so nobody discovers it in month three.

Retargeting And Remarketing

The people who already came and left. Segmented properly, capped properly, and measured against a group we deliberately do not show ads to.

Demand Gen

Google's own blend of video and feed placements. A tool we reach for when it fits the brief, never the default answer to one.

Audience Building

First party lists, customer match, and the segments worth separating. This is where most display accounts are quietly wasting money.

Creative And Format

Sizes, cut downs, and what your existing footage can carry. We edit what you own and brief specialists for what you do not.

Measurement

Holdouts, brand lift where the budget supports it, and a monthly read that says when a channel is not working.

Start With A Look At What You Are Running

Send read only access or just the website. We can tell you what the current display and video spend is buying and whether any of it is provable.

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RANKED: WEAKEST PROOF TO STRONGEST

Six Ways To Say Display Worked, Ranked From Weakest To Strongest

Agencies lead with the first one on this list. It is the weakest thing on it. Here is the whole ladder, so you can see where your current reporting sits.

1
Impressions And Reach. Not Evidence.
These describe delivery. A campaign can deliver perfectly to people who were never going to buy. Useful for checking a campaign is alive, useless for deciding whether to keep funding it.
2
View Through Conversions. Barely Evidence.
Someone saw the ad, did not click, and bought later. The platform claims it. No report can separate an advert that changed a decision from one that merely preceded it. Treat it as a hint, never as a number to defend a budget with.
3
Last Click Attribution. Evidence Of The Wrong Thing.
Display and video almost never take the last click, so this makes them look worthless. It is as misleading in one direction as view through is in the other.
4
Data Driven Attribution. Better, And Still Modelled.
The platform distributes credit across touchpoints using its own model, which it does not show you and which cannot see anything outside its own inventory. Directionally useful. Not proof.
5
Brand Lift Or Search Lift. Real, Within Limits.
A controlled study run by the platform, comparing exposed people against unexposed people. It does measure something real. It needs enough impressions to reach significance, and below that threshold it returns inconclusive and you have paid for nothing.
6
Geo Holdout Or Incrementality Test. Actual Proof.
Take a matched group of regions or audiences, show them nothing, and compare against everyone else. It is the only method on this list that answers the real question. It costs reach on purpose, which is why so few agencies suggest it.

Where Does Your Current Reporting Sit?

If the answer is the top two, that is worth knowing before the next budget conversation, not during it.

Ask About Measurement

THE CHANNEL MAP

Four Channels, What Each One Is Actually For, And Where The Budget Floor Sits

The floor column is the one worth reading first. Below it, a channel buys delivery you cannot measure, and we will say so rather than take the money.

Channel	Bought on	Realistic monthly floor	What it is good at	How it gets read
Display	Google Ads, Microsoft Ads	Modest. It is the cheapest way in and the easiest to waste	Staying present through a long consideration cycle, and supporting search demand you already have	Geo holdout, or search volume lift on your brand terms
YouTube	Google Ads, as a campaign type	Low to moderate, and it needs enough runway to leave the learning phase	Explaining something a static image cannot, and reaching people on a television	Completion and view rate early, then a brand lift study once impressions allow one
Connected TV	Google Ads, YouTube and Google living room placements	The highest floor of the four, and the one most often ignored	Reach in the room where television gets watched, at frequency you control	Geo holdout. Anything else at this spend is guesswork
Retargeting	Google Ads, Meta	The lowest floor, and the easiest to over spend	Bringing back people who already showed intent, and finishing carts	A holdout group. Without one the reported numbers will be wrong and flattering

Not Sure Which Row You Belong In?

Tell us the monthly budget and what you sell. That usually settles it in one call.

Ask Which Channel

What Is Display And Video Advertising?

Display advertising means paid image, banner, and rich media placements shown on websites and apps rather than in search results. Video advertising means paid video placements, most often on YouTube and on connected television. Both are usually bought at auction through an advertising platform. That is what the word programmatic describes. The buying is automated and priced in real time rather than negotiated with publishers one at a time. Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Meta all buy this way.

The practical difference from search is intent. Search reaches people already looking. Display and video reach people who are not. So they get used for awareness, for staying present during a long decision, and for bringing back visitors who left. It also explains why they need different measurement. Komplex runs this from Austin, Texas, alongside paid search and paid social, with one senior lead across all of it.

WHO RUNS THESE CHANNELS WITH US

Display And Video For Ecommerce, B2B And Software, Home And Kitchen, And Local Brands

Which channel works depends mostly on how slowly people buy. Our accounts have covered footwear, skincare, telecom, software, and kitchens and home improvement.

See If We Fit

Ecommerce And DTC

Retargeting and dynamic product ads carry most of the return, with YouTube used to explain a product that needs demonstrating. Feed quality decides more than creative does.

B2B And Software

Long cycles, small audiences, and a real risk of paying to reach the same forty accounts repeatedly. Capping and suppression do more here than any amount of reach.

Home And Kitchen

Considered purchases with showrooms behind them. Video earns its place because the product has to be seen, and connected TV can work if the budget is there.

Local And Multi Location

Display and connected TV bought by region, which is convenient, because geography is also the cleanest way to prove either of them worked.

THE NUMBERS

What The Spending And Quality Data Says Right Now

Four figures to have in mind before approving a display or video budget. Two are about opportunity and two are about waste.

US connected TV ad spend is forecast to rise 14.5 percent during 2026, to roughly 38 billion dollars.

Connected TV upfront commitments are forecast to pass primetime linear TV for the first time in 2026, about 17.7 billion dollars against 17.0 billion.

YouTube held the largest share of United States television viewing in April 2026, at 13.4 percent.

Just over 18 percent of advertising impressions worldwide were invalid in the first quarter of 2026, and the United States figure was above 20 percent.

HOW WE WORK

Agree The Proof, Plan, Buy, Read, Decide

Five stages. Stage one is a conversation, not a deliverable. It is why stage five takes five minutes.

Agree The Proof
What will count as evidence at your budget, decided before anything is built. If the honest answer is that nothing will prove it at this spend, we say that now.
Plan
Channel, audience, format, and frequency, built backwards from the measurement rather than forwards from the inventory available.
Buy
Campaigns built manually, with exclusions, placement lists, and capping set at launch. Automated campaign types are used where they earn it and never as the default.
Read
Monthly, against the standard agreed in stage one. Delivery metrics are reported because you asked, not because they are the answer.
Decide
Scale it, change it, or stop it. A channel that cannot show a result after a fair run should be turned off. Expect us to raise that before you do.

See What The Current Spend Is Buying

The audit comes first and costs nothing. It reads the campaigns, the placements, the audiences, and whether any of it is currently provable.

Start With The Free Audit

FREE DISPLAY AND VIDEO AUDIT

Get A Free Display And Video Audit

We look at where the ads are running, which placements are eating budget, and how audiences are segmented. Then frequency, and whether the reporting could survive a hard question. The write up tells you what to cut, what to keep, and what would need to change for the spend to be provable. If the budget is too small for the channel to work, we will say that instead of quoting. There is no charge, the findings are yours whatever you decide, and the same audit sits inside our free marketing audit.

Your display and video auditFree

Where the ads are actually appearing
Placement and app exclusion gaps
Audience overlap and segmentation
Frequency and suppression
What the current reporting can and cannot claim
Whether the budget clears the floor

1
Tell us what you are running
The website, the channels in play, roughly what you spend a month, and the outcome you want.
2
We look
Read only access to the ad accounts and analytics goes deepest. Nothing gets changed, and an NDA is available on request.
3
You get the scorecard and a call
A written scorecard ranked by impact, then a call to walk through it.

Ready To Find Out What The Spend Is Really Doing?

There is no fee and no obligation, and everything the audit finds belongs to you.

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PRICING

How We Price Display And Video Work

Media management is billed as a retainer plus a share of ad spend, sized after a conversation about the account. We are open to other formats where one fits better. Three things move the number. How many channels run, how much creative sits inside the month, and whether measurement is a monthly read or a real test. A single retargeting programme and a four channel plan with a holdout running are different jobs.

Creative production is quoted separately when it is needed. A month containing a video edit costs more than a month without one. Nothing outside the agreed scope goes on an invoice without being agreed first.

The quickest way to a number is a call about the account. Tell us the monthly budget and what it needs to prove, and we will explain how we would scope it and what we would leave out.

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What Clients Say About Working With Komplex

The Komplex team helped us reach new audiences and drive higher conversions.

Strategies that delivered results beyond our expectations.

Their expertise helped us scale efficiently, attract more customers, and drive measurable growth.

Komplex played a key role in growing our user base and optimizing our marketing efforts.

Common Questions About Display And Video Advertising

What is display and video advertising?

Display means paid image and banner placements on websites and apps. Video means paid video placements, mostly on YouTube and connected television. Both are bought at auction through advertising platforms rather than negotiated with publishers one at a time. These channels reach people who are not currently looking for you. That is the point of them, and the reason they need different measurement.

Where do the ads actually run?

The Google Display Network, which covers a very large number of websites and apps. YouTube, including on televisions. Google’s connected TV placements. The Microsoft Audience Network. And Meta for retargeting. We publish placement reports and maintain exclusion lists, so you can see where the money went rather than trusting that it went somewhere sensible.

What is the minimum budget to start?

It depends on the channel and the answer varies more than most agencies admit. Retargeting can work on a small budget because the audience is small and warm. Connected TV has a real floor and below it you are buying reach nobody can measure. The channel map above gives the honest ordering, and the free audit tells you which row your budget puts you in.

How do you prove display and video are working?

By agreeing the standard before we spend. At smaller budgets that means a geo holdout: run the campaign in some regions and not others, then compare. At larger budgets a platform brand lift study becomes available. The strongest method is an incrementality test, which costs reach deliberately in exchange for an answer. We tell you which is affordable at your spend before we build anything.

Do view through conversions count?

They are a hint, not a number to defend a budget with. A view through conversion counts anyone who saw an ad, did not click, and later converted. It cannot separate people the ad influenced from people who were coming anyway, and on retargeting that second group is usually the majority. We report them because they appear in the platform anyway. We do not build a case on them.

What is the difference between display and programmatic?

Display is the format, meaning image and banner placements. The second word describes how they are bought. An automated auction prices each impression in real time, rather than a deal negotiated with a publisher. Almost all display is bought that way now, so people use the two words interchangeably even though they describe different things.

Do you produce the video?

We edit footage you already own into ad ready cuts. Where new material is needed, we brief it and direct a contract editor. No studio sits behind us and we shoot no original footage. Plenty of YouTube and connected TV campaigns run on material a company already has. We will tell you whether yours is one of them.

Who runs my account?

One senior lead owns the strategy, the buying, the creative direction, and the reporting, and stays on the account. Editing work goes to a small group of contract editors, directed by that lead.

How is this different from paid search?

Search reaches people already looking for what you sell, and it is measured by the click that follows. These channels reach people who are not looking yet, which means a different job and a different standard of proof. Most accounts run both. Our paid search work and this share one lead, so the two get planned together rather than argued about.

How is this different from paid social?

Vertical, in feed video on Meta, TikTok, and the rest is paid social and lives there. This cluster covers display placements, in stream video on YouTube, and connected television. The one overlap is retargeting, which runs across Google and Meta, and our retargeting page says so plainly rather than pretending the line is clean.

What do you do about ad fraud and low quality sites?

Exclusion lists that get maintained, placement reports reviewed monthly, and category exclusions set at launch. Campaigns stay off inventory that exists mainly to carry advertising. Invalid traffic is a real cost across this whole category, and the honest answer is that you reduce it rather than eliminate it. Anyone promising otherwise is guessing.

Which industries does this suit?

Anything with a considered purchase, a long decision, or a product that needs showing rather than describing. It suits ecommerce, software, home and kitchen, and multi location brands well. It suits emergency services and pure commodity purchases poorly, because those buyers search when they need you and stop existing when they do not.

How long before we see anything?

Delivery data arrives immediately and means very little. A fair read needs enough runway for the campaigns to leave learning and enough volume for the measurement to say something. We agree that window at the start and put a date on it. Nobody ends up judging a channel too early or funding it out of habit.

Do you work with companies outside Austin, Texas?

Yes. Komplex is based in Austin with a presence in New York City and Reykjavik, and media buying happens remotely by nature. Campaigns in more than one country get the audience and measurement planned per market at the start. Geography is also how the holdout gets built.

Tell Us The Monthly Budget And What It Has To Prove

Those two answers decide almost everything else. Back comes the channel we would start with, what it can realistically show you, and whether we think you should spend it here at all.

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Display Campaigns

YouTube Video

Connected TV

Retargeting And Remarketing

Demand Gen

Audience Building

Creative And Format

Measurement

Ecommerce And DTC

B2B And Software

Home And Kitchen

Local And Multi Location

US connected TV ad spend is forecast to rise 14.5 percent during 2026, to roughly 38 billion dollars.

Connected TV upfront commitments are forecast to pass primetime linear TV for the first time in 2026, about 17.7 billion dollars against 17.0 billion.

YouTube held the largest share of United States television viewing in April 2026, at 13.4 percent.

Just over 18 percent of advertising impressions worldwide were invalid in the first quarter of 2026, and the United States figure was above 20 percent.

Agree The Proof

Plan

Buy

Read

Decide

The Komplex team helped us reach new audiences and drive higher conversions.

Strategies that delivered results beyond our expectations.

Their expertise helped us scale efficiently, attract more customers, and drive measurable growth.

Komplex played a key role in growing our user base and optimizing our marketing efforts.

What is display and video advertising?

Where do the ads actually run?

What is the minimum budget to start?

How do you prove display and video are working?

Do view through conversions count?

What is the difference between display and programmatic?

Do you produce the video?

Who runs my account?

How is this different from paid search?

How is this different from paid social?

What do you do about ad fraud and low quality sites?

Which industries does this suit?

How long before we see anything?

Do you work with companies outside Austin, Texas?

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