New impression-level optimization engine uses performance data and real-time affinity scoring to improve campaign outcomes across premium television inventory

Tatari, a platform for buying and measuring advertising across Convergent TV, has launched Tatari Max, an AI-driven optimization engine designed to improve how television advertising impressions are allocated. Operating at the ad-server level, the technology evaluates individual impressions in real time to help brands and publishers direct campaigns toward the households most likely to generate results.

The launch brings goal-based advertising optimization, commonly used in digital platforms such as Google Performance Max and Meta Advantage+, to premium, direct-sold television inventory. According to Tatari, the approach differs from conventional demand-side platform (DSP) and programmatic optimization by operating across direct publisher inventory and the broader TV landscape.

AI Optimization Built on Tatari's TV Performance Data

Tatari Max is built on Upstream, the company's automation platform for direct media execution, and its proprietary Foundational TV dataset.

Announced in February, Upstream enables advertisers to access premium publisher inventory directly. Its launch partners include NBCUniversal, Skydance Advertising, Disney, and Tubi. Tatari says the model avoids programmatic intermediary fees while providing fraud protection and brand safety.

Tatari Max adds an intelligence layer to this infrastructure, using AI to analyze campaign outcomes and calculate a proprietary affinity score based on multiple performance factors. The score helps determine which impressions are routed to each advertiser in real time.

The underlying Foundational TV dataset includes:

• 300 terabytes of response data.

• 180 million conversion events processed daily.

• More than $9 billion in managed advertising spend.

• 1.4 trillion linear TV impressions.

• More than 23,000 creatives evaluated based on performance.

Tatari said the data is aggregated and anonymized, allowing its AI systems to learn from campaign outcomes across a broad range of advertisers and television inventory.

Campaign Testing Shows Improvements in Acquisition Costs

According to Tatari, campaigns using Tatari Max delivered a 19% median improvement in incremental cost per acquisition (CPA) across dozens of campaigns during testing.

The company said the engine continuously learns from measured outcomes, allowing its optimization capabilities to improve as more campaign data becomes available.

Rather than relying on rigid audience exclusions and targeting cutoffs, Tatari Max uses weighted affinity scoring to identify households likely to respond to an advertisement. This approach is intended to improve performance while maintaining or expanding campaign reach.

The technology operates within the same premium direct publisher inventory advertisers already purchase, without requiring changes to their existing campaign planning and measurement processes.

Advertisers Gain Greater Performance Transparency

Tatari said Tatari Max continuously tests campaigns running with and without the optimization technology to measure incremental performance.

The platform also provides visibility into where impressions were delivered and how campaigns performed, addressing concerns about the limited transparency often associated with automated advertising systems.

This testing approach is intended to let advertisers independently assess the impact of the technology rather than relying solely on platform-generated performance claims.

Early Adopters Report Higher Conversions and Purchases

Early campaigns have produced positive results for brands using Tatari Max.

Rylo, an AI communication platform serving the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, reported a 36% increase in conversions from its Tatari Max TV campaigns.

Rhoback, a performance activewear brand, reported a 32% increase in purchases.

These results provide early examples of how impression-level optimization can influence campaign outcomes across different business categories.

Tatari Positions AI as the Next Stage of TV Advertising

Philip Inghelbrecht, CEO and Co-founder of Tatari, said the launch builds on the company's investments in TV measurement, data infrastructure, and direct integration with publisher ad servers.

He described Tatari Max as an AI-driven approach that learns from measured campaign outcomes, distinguishing it from what he characterized as rules-based automation across parts of the advertising industry.

Inghelbrecht also highlighted the platform's ability to operate across the full television spectrum, including linear TV, rather than being limited to the portion of campaigns executed programmatically.

With Tatari Max, the company aims to bring more data-driven optimization to premium television advertising while giving advertisers greater visibility into impression delivery, audience reach, and incremental campaign performance.