PayPal Ads Brings Purchase Attribution to Connected TV Through PayPal Curated Ads
PayPal extends closed-loop attribution across the entire ecosystem, powered by 25 billion verified transactions spanning merchants and major spending categories.
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 22, 2026 — PayPal Ads today launched Curated Ads, bringing commerce-grade audiences and closed-loop attribution to premium connected TV (CTV) and open web advertising. Measurement is traced not to a click or a model, but to a confirmed PayPal purchase.
A core problem is becoming clear: premium CTV can’t answer the CFO’s question. Brands pour billions into connected TV.1 It reaches the right living rooms, in premium content, at scale, but the moment the ad plays, attribution falls apart. Audience data is inferred from device graphs and lookalike models, and measurement relies on probabilistic matching. However, when CMOs enter budget reviews, they often lack definitive proof of purchase impact.
The ANA has quantified the cost of this gap, reporting a 34% rise in programmatic ad waste over two years, with less than half of spend reliably reaching intended audiences.2 While the industry has introduced numerous solutions, it has continued to face a lack of definitive, proof-driven measurement.
“We see 25 billion transactions a year. The ad industry has been measuring purchase intent. PayPal measures actual purchases,” said Mark Grether, SVP and General Manager, PayPal Ads. “That’s a different conversation for marketers to have with CFOs and a different standard for what attribution should mean.”
Retail media networks have emerged as key attribution solutions and deliver strong results within their own ecosystems. However, visibility is limited to transactions that occur within a single retailer’s environment. They cannot capture cross-platform behavior, purchases made with competitors, or the full impact of CTV advertising on downstream conversions. Single-retailer data captures a slice of the consumer, rather than a comprehensive understanding of the consumer.
Demand-side platforms (DSPs), data clean rooms, and identity graphs have layered on sophistication, but the foundation has not changed. Most attribution in CTV still ends in a model output and not a verified transaction. The industry has built infrastructure around the problem, but it has not yet been built through it.
"Our audiences expect relevant advertising, not noise," said Bill Murray, Head of Growth and Performance at Warner Bros. Discovery. "PayPal's Curated Ads model is built on direct relationships, transparent delivery, and data tied to real purchase behavior. That's the standard we want our advertising partners held to"
PayPal processes 25 billion transactions a year across hundreds of millions of buyers and tens of millions of merchants, spanning every major spending category, across competing retailers, on a single network.3 This is the PayPal transaction graph, which consists of purchase data verified at the moment of payment, cross-merchant, and cross-category by design. This breadth is difficult for any single retailer to match, and its accuracy comes from real transaction data rather than modeled estimates.
Curated Ads activates this signal end-to-end, enabling audience creation based on observed purchase behavior rather than inferred or cookie-based data. Inventory is sourced directly from premium CTV and open web publishers, including Spectrum Reach, Tubi, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Attribution is then closed back to verified PayPal transactions, delivering measurement based on actual purchases rather than clicks or modeled conversions.
"PayPal Ads specifically targets audiences based on actual transaction data, and the measurement comes back to real purchases, not proxies,” said Casey Hurbis, CMO, BetMGM. “That's a critical differentiator when we think about how our marketing performs.”
The result is a clear answer to the CFO’s question: the CTV campaign reached consumers who had already demonstrated purchase intent within the category, with verified proof of resulting sales.
Curated Ads is available now in the United States through managed service and programmatic private marketplace (PMP) activation. For more information or to connect with the PayPal Ads team, visit: https://www.paypal.com/us/advertiser#contact.
1. eMarketer Forecast 2025. 2. Association of National Advertisers, Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study. 3. PayPal Earnings-FY, 2025.
About PayPal
PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit paypal.com.
Media Contact: mediarelations@paypal.com