SearchKings Secures Second Google Ads Creative Impact Award for SKTV, Democratizing Connected‑TV Advertising for SMBs. The Toronto‑based digital‑marketing agency announced Thursday that its AI‑powered Connected‑TV solution, SKTV, has earned a second‑year Google Ads Creative Impact Award at the 2026 Google Marketing Live event, underscoring the platform’s role in bringing premium TV inventory to small and medium‑sized businesses.
What SearchKings SKTV Does
SKTV is an AI‑driven ad‑buying platform that fuses broadcast‑quality creative with automated media‑plan optimization for Connected‑TV (CTV) and Over‑the‑Top (OTT) environments. By ingesting first‑party signals, third‑party data, and real‑time performance metrics, the system generates audience segments, selects inventory across major streaming services, and dynamically allocates spend to meet cost‑per‑acquisition (CPA) goals. The result is a “democratized TV” experience where a local plumber or boutique retailer can secure prime‑time ad slots that were previously the exclusive domain of national brands.
Why the Award Matters
The Creative Impact Award is Google’s way of spotlighting campaigns that combine data‑driven strategy with compelling creative to achieve measurable lift. SearchKings’ win marks the second consecutive year the agency has been recognized, first for its AI‑enhanced search campaigns and now for its foray into CTV. According to Gartner, 70 % of global ad spend will be programmatic by 2026, and IDC projects CTV advertising to surpass $45 billion that year. An award from Google signals that SKTV is not only technically robust but also aligned with the broader shift toward programmatic TV.
Industry Implications
The accolade positions SKTV as a viable alternative to incumbent DSPs such as The Trade Desk and Amazon Advertising, which dominate the CTV marketplace but often require larger budgets and complex integrations. SKTV’s self‑service interface and AI‑powered budgeting lower the barrier to entry, potentially accelerating the migration of SMB ad spend from traditional linear TV to programmatic CTV. For enterprise marketers, the platform offers a scalable way to extend brand reach across devices while maintaining granular attribution—a capability increasingly demanded after Apple’s ATT framework limited IDFA‑based tracking.
Competitive Landscape
While major players like Google Display & Video 360 and Roku’s OneView provide CTV inventory, they typically bundle the offering with broader media‑buying suites that can overwhelm smaller teams. SKTV’s niche focus on SMBs mirrors the strategy of emerging SaaS solutions such as Simpli.fi’s local programmatic stack, yet it differentiates itself through a proprietary AI engine that optimizes creative assets in real time. Adobe’s Advertising Cloud and Salesforce Marketing Cloud have begun integrating CTV modules, but their pricing tiers remain out of reach for many mid‑market advertisers.
What It Means for Enterprise Marketing Teams
Enterprise marketers can view SKTV as a testbed for cross‑device orchestration. The platform’s unified reporting consolidates first‑party CRM data with third‑party audience insights, enabling marketers to attribute TV impressions to downstream conversions without relying on cookies. This aligns with the growing emphasis on privacy‑first measurement, as highlighted by a recent Forrester study indicating that 62 % of brands plan to shift to server‑side tracking by 2027. Moreover, SKTV’s AI‑generated creative variations reduce the need for extensive in‑house production, freeing resources for strategic initiatives.
Quote from SearchKings Leadership
“At SearchKings, our focus is on AI implementation at scale, rather than talking about it,” said Matthew Glickman, COO and co‑founder of SearchKings. “Winning a second consecutive award, this time for our expansion into Connected TV, validates our commitment to providing practical, results‑driven marketing solutions.”
Analyst Perspective
Miles Savage, head of Agency & Partnerships at Google Canada, praised the achievement: “They are fast‑moving, innovative, and consistently leading the way in delivering high‑impact results for SMBs.” Such endorsement from Google reinforces the credibility of SKTV in a crowded ad‑tech ecosystem.
Looking Ahead
As privacy regulations tighten and first‑party data becomes the cornerstone of targeting, platforms that can marry AI‑powered optimization with transparent measurement will dominate. SearchKings’ SKTV, now validated by a Google award, is poised to capture a slice of the projected $45 billion CTV market, especially among retailers and service providers seeking a cost‑effective entry point into premium video advertising. Get in touch with our Adtech experts
