The programmatic trading of connected TV (CTV) ads is now becoming so common that video formats now make up the bulk of all programmatic spending, according to eMarketer.
But that pivot away from traditional “insertion orders” also comes with risks for ad buyers – achieving certainty about placement and achieving the maximum desired scale.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Evan Krauss, SVP, Buyer Development, Index Exchange, explains how his company is working on reducing those risks.
Scaling with MNTN
Index Exchange is a marketplace where media companies sell impressions in real-time, or “programmatic”, fashion.
The company spent the first six months of 2022 upgrading its technology for connected TV, including signing deals with direct and premium inventory suppliers, and has turned an early tester into a new partner – the connected TV ad platform MNTN.
“MNTN was actually our first tester of our new capabilities in our new system,” Krauss says. “Things went so well that that transitioned into a strategic partnership.
“They are using what we call our ‘volume incentive programme’ to make their CTV deals more efficient.
“Our volume incentive programme brings a traditional element of volume-based pricing discounts to programmatic. The more a buyer spends on Index, the lower our fees go. The discount from our fees gets applied to a reduced CPM. ”
Seeking solace
Krauss says a key consideration is ensuring programmatic CTV trading gives buyers the same comfort as one-to-one deals.
“Buyers want to feel safe,” he says. “They want control over what they’re buying.
“They want control over the suppliers that they’re using … and to know that they’re transacting in a fraud-free environment.
“One-to-one deals has been the predominant method, even guaranteed deals has been a big part … because buyers weren’t feeling safe.
“(Now) we see things like packaged inventory and programmatic targeting really expanding.”
Season’s greetings
The industry will need to be on its mettle ahead of holiday season to be able to deliver for the growing swell of ad buyers that want to execute through CTV, Krauss says.
“If we think about what’s happening in Q4, there’s very likely a scenario where the committed spend from advertisers will be greater than the supply that exists from the market today,” he warns.
“That means buyers are going miss out on their reach numbers. They’re not going hit their campaign goals.”
So we’ve built a new product around our inventory packages that helps buyers find all of the available inventory across CTV today.
We have only signed up premium direct supply partners. A buyer knows that, when they’re running across a targeted package – for instance, all of sports across the exchange … – they’re only running on the most premium and the safest content.
