Karlo
Kargo · Karlo by Kargo: Agentic Media Buying for CTV and Open-Web Video Ads
Karlo is Kargo's self-serve agentic media buying platform. It turns your goals, audience, and budget into a video ad campaign across connected TV and the open web, and its agents handle setup, pacing, and optimization while you keep the final say. It is built for mid-sized advertisers and independent agencies that want premium video inventory without an enterprise buying team.
Best for
Mid-sized advertisers and independent agencies that already have video creative and want awareness campaigns on CTV and premium open-web inventory, launched quickly with agent-managed pacing and optimization
Not ideal for
Advertisers without video assets, teams that need search, social, or display campaigns today, performance marketers who need published fees and transparent cost structures before committing, and developers who need an API
Who it's for
Mid-sized advertisers, smaller marketing teams, and independent agencies buying video advertising on CTV and the open web
Capabilities
- Turns answers about your business, target audience, and budget, or existing briefing documents and plain-language prompts, into a campaign plan
- Agents handle campaign setup, pacing, and optimization; while you build the campaign they suggest moves and you make the calls, and after launch they keep optimizing
- One video campaign runs across connected TV and the open web, without separate buys, logins, or reports per channel
- Resizes and reformats uploaded videos for each placement and can generate new versions of them
- Built-in creative intelligence, based on Kargo's Creative Science technology, predicts creative performance and learns from one campaign to the next, and creative results feed into optimization alongside audience, contextual, and bidding decisions
- Contextual targeting that decides where and when ads run based on the content people are engaging with, in addition to audience segments
- Access to premium publisher inventory through Kargo's direct media relationships
- Same-day launch paid by credit card, with real-time performance reporting in one place
- Connects to your storage, creative tools, and existing channels to pull assets into a campaign (specific integrations are not listed)
Limitations
- At launch it supports video on CTV and the open web only; the Karlo FAQ says social is coming later in 2026 and display and other surfaces in future releases
- You must supply your own video and other creative assets; Karlo adapts and versions them but the FAQ says you need to upload your own
- Minimum spend is $10 a day per the Karlo FAQ
- No fee schedule, platform fee, or margin is published: Kargo only says you set your budget and pricing varies by channel and audience
- No supported countries or regions are documented
- The site's calls to action are Book a Demo and a contact form; no public sign-up page, help center, or documentation is linked
- No API is documented, and integrations with storage, creative tools, and channels are described without naming specific products
- Performance results on the site are vendor-reported, and most are from blinded case studies
- Kargo's CEO said at launch that Karlo is stronger for awareness than for performance campaigns so far
Use cases
- Launching a CTV and online video campaign for a mid-sized brand on a modest daily budget
- Running one video campaign across connected TV and open-web placements instead of setting up separate buys
- Adapting an existing brand video into the sizes and formats each placement needs without a production team
- Letting an independent agency run premium video campaigns for clients without a dedicated programmatic trader
- Running an awareness campaign whose pacing and optimization are managed while the team works on other things
Our take
Karlo is notable because it brings premium CTV and open-web video buying, usually handled by enterprise buying teams, down to a $10 a day minimum with agents doing the setup, pacing, and optimization. Its distinctive bet is putting creative in the loop: your videos are resized, versioned, and scored alongside targeting and bidding decisions. The profile is still thin, though. Kargo publishes no fees or margin, no supported regions, no documentation, and no API, the site leads with Book a Demo, and at launch it is video-only and, by Kargo's own account to the press, better suited to awareness than performance campaigns. Treat it as a promising awareness channel for teams that already have video creative, and ask about fees and reporting before moving real budget.
Who should use it
Mid-sized brands and independent agencies with existing video creative that want to add CTV and premium open-web video to their mix, mainly for awareness, without hiring a programmatic trader or managing several buying platforms.
Who should skip it
Advertisers without video assets, teams whose main channels are search, social, or display, performance marketers who need published fees and cost transparency up front, and anyone who needs an API or documented regional availability.
Strengths
- Agents manage setup, pacing, and optimization, so a small team can run campaigns without a dedicated trader
- One campaign covers CTV and the open web, with reporting in one place
- Creative is resized, versioned, and scored inside the optimization loop rather than handled separately
- Low $10 a day minimum and credit-card launch
- Access to premium publisher inventory through Kargo's direct relationships
Weaknesses
- Video only at launch; social, display, and other surfaces are still to come
- No published fees or margin, only that pricing varies by channel and audience
- Requires your own video creative
- No documented regions, help center, or API
- Brand new, with mostly vendor-reported and blinded results
Karlo pricing
Media budget
From $10/day
- You set the budget and Karlo buys media against it
- Paid by credit card
- Pricing varies by channel and audience
Note: Kargo publishes no subscription, platform fee, or margin for Karlo. The Karlo FAQ says the minimum daily spend is $10 and that pricing varies by channel and audience.
Technical specs
Modalities
Text, Video
Where Karlo excels
First CTV campaign for a mid-sized brand
A brand with an existing video spot can describe its audience and budget, approve the plan Karlo generates, and launch the same day on connected TV and the open web, with agents handling pacing instead of a programmatic trader.
Independent agency adding premium video for clients
An agency without a CTV buying desk can run client video campaigns from one platform, with reformatting for each placement and reporting for all channels in one place.
Nonprofit awareness campaign
Kargo reports that a Karlo campaign for the Ad Council's mental health initiative drove a 21% lift in ad recall and a 10% lift in aided awareness, an example of the awareness goals the product is currently best suited to.
How Karlo fits alongside other tools
Karlo and Mojo
Mojo operates a B2B team's existing ad accounts (Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Meta Ads, Campaign Manager 360) and CRM, launching and pacing campaigns there. Karlo buys CTV and open-web video inventory itself through Kargo. A B2B team could use Mojo for search and social accounts and Karlo for video reach.
Karlo and Blaze
Blaze is an all-in-one small business marketing platform that creates content, including social posts and AI video, and manages Google and Meta ad campaigns. Karlo does not create content from scratch or run search and social ads; it buys CTV and open-web video placements for creative you already have. A small team could produce content and run search and social ads with Blaze and use Karlo for video reach.
Frequently asked questions
What is Karlo?
Karlo is a self-serve agentic media buying platform from Kargo. You describe your business, audience, and budget, Karlo builds a video campaign plan, and after you approve it and upload your videos, its agents handle setup, pacing, and optimization across connected TV and the open web.
How much does Karlo cost?
There is no published subscription or platform fee. You set a budget and Karlo buys media against it, paid by credit card, and Kargo says pricing varies by channel and audience. The minimum spend is $10 a day.
Who is Karlo for?
The Karlo FAQ says Karlo is a self-serve product for mid-sized advertisers and independent agencies. Kargo's launch announcement describes it as built for smaller teams and businesses that previously could not reach the enterprise-scale budgets and staff that cross-platform video campaigns required.
Which channels does Karlo support?
At launch, video across connected TV and the open web. The Karlo FAQ says social is coming later in 2026, with display and additional surfaces in future releases. Kargo's launch press release also lists social among the channels, so check the current status before you plan a social campaign.
Do I need my own creative for Karlo?
Yes. You upload your video and other creative assets, and Karlo reformats, resizes, and versions them for each placement. It can also generate new versions of your videos and scores creative performance with Kargo's Creative Science technology.
How fast can I launch a campaign on Karlo?
Kargo says same day: upload creative, set a budget, and activate with a credit card.
How do I get access to Karlo?
Kargo describes Karlo as self-serve, but karlo.com does not link a public sign-up page. The ways in from the site are Book a Demo, which opens a meeting scheduler, and a contact form after which Kargo's team reaches out.
Is Karlo better for awareness or performance campaigns?
Awareness, for now. Kargo's CEO told Brand Innovators at launch that Karlo's functionality is more effective for awareness campaigns and that Kargo is still working on its performance marketing capabilities. The named result Kargo cites, an Ad Council campaign, is also an awareness campaign.
Integrations & fit
About Karlo
Karlo packages the creative and media technology that Kargo, a New York ad tech company founded in 2003, built for its large clients into a self-serve product for smaller teams. Kargo announced its general availability on October 1, 2026. The workflow has three steps. You answer a few questions about your business, the audience you want to reach, and your budget, or start from existing briefing documents or a plain-language prompt, and Karlo turns that into a campaign plan. You review the plan, upload your video assets, and change anything you want: the agents suggest moves and you make the calls. You then launch with a credit card, and Karlo's agents keep pacing and optimizing the campaign while you get real-time performance updates. What sets it apart from bidding-focused buying tools is that creative sits inside the optimization loop: Karlo resizes your videos for each placement, can iterate new versions of them, predicts creative performance, and weighs creative results alongside targeting and bidding while the campaign runs. One campaign runs across CTV and the open web, bought through Kargo's direct relationships with premium media outlets, with reporting in one place. The minimum spend is $10 a day. The tradeoffs: at launch it runs video only (the Karlo FAQ says social is coming later in 2026, with display after that), you must supply your own video creative, and Kargo publishes no fee schedule or margin, no supported countries, no help center, and no API. Although Kargo calls Karlo self-serve, karlo.com links no sign-up page; the ways in from the site are Book a Demo and a contact form. Kargo's founder and CEO Harry Kargman also told Brand Innovators at launch that Karlo works better for awareness campaigns than for performance marketing so far, and that Kargo is still improving its performance capabilities.
Updates from Karlo
Kargo announced general availability of Karlo, a self-serve agentic media buying platform for smaller teams and businesses, powered by its Creative Science and Media Intelligence technologies.
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