Kargo launches Karlo, an AI media‑buying platform for small businesses

Kargo announced Thursday the general availability of Karlo, an AI media‑buying platform that drove a 21 percent lift in ad recall in an Ad Council pilot. The platform lets smaller teams plan, create and activate campaigns across the open web, CTV and social from a single system, with onboarding completed in just minutes.

Karlo is powered by Kargo’s Creative Science and Media Intelligence platforms, which combine premium audience data with contextual signals to inform bidding and targeting decisions. In real time, the tool scores and adjusts a business’s existing creative alongside bidding and targeting, treating creative as a performance lever rather than a static asset. By unifying CTV, social and open‑web buying in one flow, Karlo eliminates the need for separate buyers and lets campaigns be optimized while they are live.

“Creative usually sits outside that loop, untouched, even though it’s the biggest lever on performance,” Harry Kargman, founder and CEO of Kargo said.

“an innovative way to meaningfully engage an audience that can truly benefit from mental health messaging and resources,” DJ Perera, chief media officer at the Ad Council said.

Kargo has spent over two decades building AI‑powered advertising technology for large advertisers. Previously, smaller businesses lacked the budget and staff to access such tools, often needing separate buyers for CTV, social and the open web. Karlo makes the same capabilities available in a self‑serve format.

What we know

• Thursday

• general availability

• 21 percent lift in ad recall

• 10 percent gain in aided awareness

• setup taking just minutes