Connected television has given media buyers a wide range of activation options, from ad servers to DSPs to direct publisher relationships. But some in the industry are coming to think this abundance of choice requires careful strategy before diving in.
Advertisers face mounting pressure to optimize their connected TV investments while measuring their true business impact.
“I think, when it comes to CTV serving, buyers have a lot of options in terms of activation,” said Jay Friedman, CEO of Goodway Group, in this video interview with Beet.TV. “There’s a lot of places to start, and I think that requires a strategy and intentionality before buyers just get into it.”
Goodway Group is a digital marketing services provider specializing in programmatic advertising and media buying strategies. It offers campaign planning, execution, and optimization across various digital platforms.
More data benefits quality inventory
As CTV continues its explosive growth trajectory, advertisers are increasingly demanding more granular data for targeting and measurement. According to eMarketer’s recent forecast, CTV ad spending is expected to rise by 22% in 2024 to $30.1 billion and grow by 72.5% by 2027 to $42.4 billion, eventually accounting for nearly half of total TV ad spend.
Friedman believes that greater transparency in the bidding process ultimately benefits premium inventory providers. “I don’t know of any auction or marketplace environment, in any industry, where less information gets better pricing for both sides,” he said. “More information that’s shared will always drive prices to the right, most valuable place.”
This transparency creates a virtuous cycle that rewards quality, according to Friedman: “For quality inventory, more information is going to drive up bids. For low-quality inventory, it might drive down bids. But what are we building the industry for? Are we building it for high quality or low quality?”
Holistic measurement remains challenging
One persistent challenge in CTV advertising is connecting viewing on the big screen to downstream consumer actions. While digital channels traditionally excel at attribution, the living room environment creates unique obstacles.
“You’re unlikely to get an on-device path from your big screen in the living room all the way to the app or the landing page,” Friedman explained.
For publishers and advertisers seeking to maximize CTV’s potential, Friedman believes that greater content-level transparency will soon become standard practice in the industry.
“It starts with information. In order to get the most out of CTV, buyers need to know what they’re buying,” he said. “Things like show-level transparency, the fact that we didn’t have it, we will look back and laugh. I’m certain of that.”
