SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Lack of transparency and data standardization are two of the issues plaguing the booming programmatic space, leading to inaccuracies and inconsistencies in how CTV signals are communicated and translated.
To address these challenges, OpenX has taken steps to normalize CTV signals by distilling them down into a standardized, uniform taxonomy that publishers can plug into and buyers can easily activate on.
While there are currently over 4,000 signals in the CTV ecosystem, OpenX has narrowed this down to 117 standardized content signal definitions.
OpenX Tackles Transparency with Normalized Signals
“There needs to be a consistent, identifiable, standardized way of communicating and translating CTV signals across the programmatic space,” said Danner Close, VP, Strategic Relationships, OpenX, in this video interview with Beet.TV contributor Rob Williams.
Close said content object targeted deals seeing a 7x increase in bid rate compared to non-content object targeted deals, and an 11% increase in CPM when genre signals are included in the bid stream. This suggests that buyers are deriving significant value from the standardized communication of these signals.
Demand side platforms (DSPs) are also beginning to embrace normalized signals, with some using them for targeting and reporting.
Transparency to Take Center Stage in 2025
Looking ahead, Close believes that transparency will be an increased focus for the CTV industry as we enter 2025. Drawing on the industry’s experience in display and mobile app advertising, where transparency has been a key priority, CTV is now at a crossroads as it explores what transparency looks like in this channel.
Close highlights several initiatives that OpenX has undertaken to improve transparency in CTV, including cutting out resellers to reduce multi-hop resold traffic, reclassifying CTV to ensure buyers are getting the lean-back, glass-on-wall style entertainment content they expect, and pushing for greater uniformity and standardization around content signals to enable more effective transaction and understanding of CTV impressions across the programmatic landscape.
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