Beyond Meta, Google and Amazon Ads: 4 Paid Channels to Test in 2026
Meta, Google and Amazon aren't going anywhere. For most Indian brands they will still be the backbone of the plan in 2026. But a plan that runs only on the big three is a plan with three single points of failure: rising costs, shrinking audiences and algorithms you don't control.
Here are four channels I'd test this year, and the job each one does.
1. Live creator media
Young India spends hours inside livestreams: gaming, cricket, IRL chats. 45% of gaming stream viewers stay for more than two hours at a stretch (StreamO audience data). That's attention the feed can't sell you.
Live creator media puts your brand inside those streams, carried by creators the audience trusts. It can't be skipped or blocked, and it can now be bought like media: across a hundred creators at once, per view, on one dashboard.
Its job: building conviction with Gen Z and turning attention into action through chat links and QR codes.
Test it with: one product launch across 100 creators over four weeks, measured on view-through, CTR and brand lift.
2. Quick-commerce ads
India's quick-commerce platforms have become ad platforms. Advertising on them reached ₹4,000 crore in 2025, up 202% in a year, and is expected to reach ₹6,000 crore in 2026 (Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2026, via Agency Reporter).
Its job: winning the moment of purchase, ten minutes before delivery.
Test it with: a launch or festive push, paired with an upper-funnel channel that creates the demand to capture.
3. YouTube on the big screen
YouTube reaches more than 75 million adults in India on connected TVs, and TV has been its fastest-growing screen in India for five years (Storyboard18). Families are watching YouTube together, in the living room, the way they used to watch TV.
Its job: shared, lean-back reach at a lower cost than broadcast.
Test it with: a CTV-only line in your next YouTube buy, measured against your TV plan.
A plan that runs only on the big three is a plan with three single points of failure.
4. Gaming communities
Gaming communities are opening up to advertisers. In September 2026 Discord launched a self-serve Ads Manager and Video Quests, a rewarded format where users choose to watch an ad in return for in-app rewards (eMarketer).
Its job: reaching gamers in the places they talk, with formats they opt into.
Test it with: a small rewarded campaign tied to a gaming moment, alongside live creator media.
How to test without wasting money
Give each test one job and one KPI. Don't judge a conviction channel on cost per click.
Run it long enough to learn. Two to four weeks, not a weekend.
Pair new channels with what you know. Run them alongside Meta and Google and measure the lift.
Scale what works and kill what doesn't. A test only matters if the result changes next quarter's plan.
The brands that grow in 2026 won't be the ones that abandoned the big three. They'll be the ones that stopped relying on them alone.
A test only matters if the result changes next quarter's plan.