Trends in CTV Advertising

Your living room TV just became a retail media channel. Two things happened in the last two weeks that most CPG leaders haven't connected yet. First: Amazon Audiences is launching on Netflix. Starting this quarter, brands buying Netflix inventory through Amazon DSP can target viewers based on what they bought on Amazon last week. Not modeled. Not probabilistic. Real purchase data from 300 million shoppers, applied to the most premium streaming inventory in the market. Second: Walmart is rolling Vizio OS onto its Onn TV line, potentially reaching a quarter to a third of US households. Walmart Connect CTV campaigns already deliver 44% new-to-brand buyers with closed-loop attribution from ad impression to in-store purchase. Zoom out and the picture gets bigger. Amazon's ad business just crossed $70 billion TTM. 315 million viewers on ad-supported Prime Video. Ad load doubled to 4-6 minutes per hour. Netflix is targeting $3 billion in ad revenue this year. Retail media CTV is growing 3x faster than retail media search, and retail is already the largest ad category on CTV at roughly 20% of a $38 billion market. The old model: your VP of Ecommerce manages retail media on Amazon. Your CMO manages the TV and streaming budget. Different teams. Different agencies. Different measurement. The new reality: Amazon's purchase data powers your Netflix buy. Walmart's purchase data powers your living room screen. Same viewer. Same data. Same screen. Different budget owners. This is not a media planning problem. It's an org design problem. The brands that unify retail media and CTV under one strategy will compound their targeting, measurement, and creative advantage. The ones keeping trade and brand marketing in separate P&Ls will spend more to learn less. Who owns the CTV buy at your company when it's powered by retailer purchase data? #RetailMedia #CTV #CPG #ConnectedTV #AmazonAdvertising #WalmartConnect

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭: 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 India’s digital landscape is undergoing a monumental shift, with the open internet emerging as the new premium destination for content consumption. This shift presents both challenges and opportunities for marketers. As young adults increasingly turn to OTT/CTV, music streaming, and online gaming, brands must rethink their digital strategies. 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 The open internet includes platforms like OTT/CTV, music apps, online gaming, and news websites where content is funded by advertising. Unlike walled gardens (Google, Facebook, Instagram), it offers transparency and freedom in media buying. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 In India, the open internet is becoming dominant, with 640 million users spending over half their digital time on these platforms. Young adults (18-34) are expected to further increase usage. 1. OTT/CTV: Go-To for Premium Content OTT/CTV platforms like Zee5, JioTV, and Voot are prime destinations for premium content. Young users are 55% more likely to view brands on OTT as premium than on YouTube, making it an ideal space for brands to engage highly receptive audiences. 2. Ad Spend Needs to Catch Up Despite high engagement, only 15% of ad spend is directed toward the open internet, while 52% of time is spent on these platforms. Brands have a significant opportunity to close this gap and realign strategies with consumer behavior. 3. Engagement and Trust The open internet offers deeper engagement compared to walled gardens, with 33% of young adults feeling highly engaged. Additionally, 40% of Indians find OTT/CTV ads more trustworthy than social media, allowing brands to build stronger connections. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 As the open internet continues to grow, marketers need to adjust strategies. Similar to trends in the U.S., ad dollars are shifting to the open internet. Brands that adapt early will engage younger, more discerning consumers in trust-building environments. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝: 1. Reallocate Ad Spend: Shift more budget to the open internet, especially OTT/CTV. 2. Maximize Engagement: Create resonant ads for users in “lean-in” mode. 3. Build Trust: Use data-driven targeting to ensure relevant, non-intrusive ads. As the digital landscape evolves, the open internet is becoming a critical frontier for marketers. The brands that pivot now may be the ones to truly connect with India’s next generation of consumers. #DigitalMarketing #OpenInternet #OTT #CTV #Advertising #India

Comcast launching Universal Ads, a platform for SMBs to buy streaming inventory, points to two different paths for CTV’s evolution. One path is about making streaming available to reach and frequency buyers, including SMBs. The other is about making CTV a performance channel that can truly compete with search and social (which is why SMBs gravitate to Google and Meta). These two paths require completely different technologies, language, skill sets, sales approaches, optimization algorithms, reporting, media spend controls, data transparency and control, attribution analytics, etc. In other words, it’s great to put a lot of streaming inventory in one place and make it more accessible. But the bigger opportunity is making CTV capable of the very thing that has made search and social a $500 billion combined opportunity: unleashing fully measurable performance that advertisers trust. We are huge fans of democratizing TV advertising and applaud any effort to engage more advertisers in CTV. But to reach its full potential, CTV must deliver the same results for performance advertisers, including SMBs, that search and social do. #PerformanceTV #CTV

CTV Weekly Insights: The FAST Quality Erosion Trap FAST platforms, including The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Tubi and Pluto TV, are currently caught in a dangerous domino effect that threatens the long-term viability of their content ecosystems. While viewership continues to grow, revenue is not keeping pace, forcing a race to the bottom that is eroding content quality across the board. The Dirty Secrets There is a systemic breakdown happening behind the scenes that most analysts aren't addressing: ▶ The CPM Bait-and-Switch: Platforms publicly lament poor CPMs to maintain market positioning, and then routinely undercut their own rates by offering single-digit CPMs on the side to move volume. ▶ The Producer Squeeze: FAST channels are already slashing content acquisition fees, often pushing producers into revenue share deals that are shifting more of the financial risk onto content producers. ▶ The Revenue-Share Mirage: Because the total ad revenue is shrinking due to those same low CPMs, those revenue shares are becoming increasingly worth less for the producers. The Domino Effect on Content The fallout is becoming clear: when platforms have less money, they have less to share with individual channels. As a byproduct, we are seeing a massive drain on the capital needed to produce or acquire high-quality content. Further, there is a real possibility of individual channels going under or being removed from their platforms due to a lack of financial stability. If this continues, we risk a hollowed out viewing experience filled with more low-cost, low-engagement library filler. How We Reverse the Trend To move past this era of friction and futility, the industry must pivot: 1. Move Beyond "Cheap" Impressions: Agencies and brands must stop optimizing solely for CPM. We need to shift toward metrics that value engagement, content authenticity, and historical performance. 2. Transparency as Currency: Platforms must provide channel-level and, even better, show-level measurement. This is critical to reverse the persistent perception of FAST inventory as "low-quality, remnant" space. 3. Deterministic Targeting Deals: We need to prioritize data-rich, deterministic deals. The recent partnerships, like those between Amazon with Samsung and Roku, serve as the necessary blueprints moving the market away from simple programmatic buying and toward high-intent, signal-verified advertising. The Bottom Line: FAST is no longer the industry’s disruptor; it is the new normal, being a basic cable replacement. But if we continue to treat premium audiences like a commodity unit, we will lose the very audience that made the platform successful in the first place. #CTV #FAST #StreamingMedia #MediaBuying #AdTech

Trade Desk vs. Google Ads in CTV Advertising:A Comparative Analysis Connected TV (CTV) advertising has emerged as a powerhouse in the digital marketing landscape, with platforms like The Trade Desk and Google Ads vying for dominance. Both platforms offer robust solutions for CTV ad campaigns, but their performance, penetration, and regional market share differ significantly due to their unique strengths and strategies. Performance: Which Platform Reigns Supreme? In terms of sheer ad spend and reach, Google Ads holds an edge in the CTV segment. With YouTube as its flagship CTV offering, Google leverages its massive user base—over 50% of ad-supported streaming watch time in the U.S. occurs on YouTube CTV for adults 18 and up (Nielsen, 2022). This scale, combined with Alphabet’s extensive data ecosystem (Google Search, Android, etc.), enables highly targeted, non-skippable ads that deliver impressive completion rates, often exceeding 95%. Google’s integration of CTV buying into its Google Ads platform further simplifies access for advertisers, driving higher ad spend—projected to exceed $30 billion in the U.S. in 2024. The Trade Desk, however, excels in precision and flexibility. As a leading demand-side platform (DSP), it offers advertisers access to a vast, unified CTV inventory marketplace, including premium content from major networks and streaming services. Its AI-driven tool, Koa, optimizes campaigns for light TV viewers and cord-cutters, often resulting in higher engagement rates. Data from The Trade Desk’s Q2 2023 campaigns showed a 50% higher likelihood of driving website visits with top-quality inventory, suggesting superior performance for specific KPIs like conversions. While its CTV ad spend trails Google’s in volume, its focus on programmatic efficiency and first-party data integration makes it a favorite among performance-driven marketers. Penetration and Regional Market Share Regionally, Google Ads dominates North America, particularly the U.S., where CTV penetration reached 88% of households in 2023. YouTube and Google TV command a significant share, with Roku (44% of ad views) and Hulu trailing behind. In Europe, Google’s penetration is strong in markets like the UK, but it faces competition from local broadcasters and slower CTV adoption. The Trade Desk, meanwhile, has deeper penetration among programmatic buyers globally. In the U.S., it partners with Roku and Disney, bolstering its 40%+ share of programmatic CTV spend. In APAC and LATAM, its agnostic approach to inventory gives it an edge over Google’s walled-garden model, with growing traction in markets like Australia and Brazil (41% CTV reach in LATAM). Conclusion Google Ads leads in volume and broad reach, thanks to YouTube’s scale, while The Trade Desk shines in precision and programmatic dominance, especially in emerging regions. Advertisers prioritizing mass awareness favor Google; those chasing efficiency lean toward The Trade Desk.

LinkedIn just made a move that should have every B2B marketer paying attention. They've partnered with The Trade Desk as their first DSP partner for connected TV ads. LinkedIn's audience data. Layered into CTV buys. Through the biggest independent DSP on the planet. That means a cloud computing company can now serve streaming TV ads only to IT decision makers. A SaaS brand can target CMOs while they're watching Netflix with the sound on and attention up. Then retarget those same people in their LinkedIn feed the next morning. This is a full funnel B2B done properly. And the timing is fascinating. The Trade Desk is under pressure, stock down 50% in a year. The fallout from the Publicis audit is still making noise. Amazon circling. Yet LinkedIn chose them as partner number one. That tells you something about where the industry sees TTD's infrastructure sitting, regardless of the headlines. Here's what most people will miss, though. This isn't just about CTV. It's about B2B brands finally accepting that brand awareness matters. That in an LLM first world where buyers are discovering solutions through AI before they ever hit your website, you need to be memorable before you're searchable. TV does that. Programmatic CTV with LinkedIn's professional graph underneath it does that at scale. US CTV ad spend is forecast to hit $37 billion this year. B2B has barely scratched the surface of that number. The brands that move now won't just be early. They'll be the ones who own the conversation while everyone else is still debating whether TV is a "B2B channel." It is. LinkedIn just made it official. If you could precisely target one job title with a CTV campaign for your brand tomorrow, would you choose the decision-maker or the budget holder? #ConnectedTV #B2BMarketing #TheTradeDesk

The 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗧𝗩 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀! India’s CTV growth trajectory is clear: there are more than 𝟵𝟲𝗠 𝗖𝗧𝗩 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀, a number that’s 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝟭𝟮𝟬𝗠 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝗱-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳. A lot of this growth is tied to OTT: more streaming apps, more subscribers, more content, more engagement.  But there's a quieter force shaping the market that few talk about.  𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗧𝗩 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗘𝗠𝘀, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀. Before anyone clicks into an app and picks something to play, the home screen has already done the steering through recommendation rows, default tiles, and convenient app placements. The smarter and more personalised these interfaces get, the more viewers will trust them to lead the way.  This is because of how people want to watch today. They want the classic TV experience, where they sit back and start watching, rather than searching across multiple apps to find something to play.  𝗢𝗘𝗠 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗽. FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels will further contribute to that experience, lowering the barrier to entry and drawing more viewers into the CTV ecosystem. So, while many optimise their ad strategy for apps, TV makers or OEMs like Samsung, LG, Xiaomi are quietly reshaping brand discovery.  𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗧𝗩 / 𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴: ✅. Streaming becomes the default entry point into television. ✅. FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels emerge as a bridge between traditional channel surfing and on-demand viewing. ✅. Advertisers gain access to TV-scale reach combined with digital-style targeting and measurement. ✅. Audiences expect content discovery to be personalized rather than programmed. As CTV scales across India, the home screen could become one of the most valuable positions a brand can hold. Which brings me to the following question: 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗧𝗩 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁? Keen to hear how others are thinking about this. #ConnectedTV #FAST #CTV #CTVadvertising #adtech

The Buy-Side Battlefield Just Shifted: What the Roku-Amazon DSP Alliance Really Means!! The tectonic plates of the CTV advertising landscape just moved. While many at Cannes Lions were chasing rosé and rooftop panels, a major shift was unfolding behind the scenes: Roku and Amazon joined forces in a move that may redefine the next phase of programmatic TV buying. This isn't just another tech integration. It's a strategic realignment and one that’s rich with signals, risks, and power plays. 1. The Strategic Signal: A Survival Pact For Roku: -Relevance Over Royalties: With 50% of U.S. streaming time but stagnant hardware sales, Roku needs to monetize its OS dominance. Amazon’s DSP gives it a lifeline as The Trade Desk builds its own CTV OS (Ventura). -Profitability Pressure: Roku’s stock is down 80% from its peak. This deal secures demand without costly DSP investments. For Amazon: - Walled Garden Expansion: Retail media was just the start. Now, Amazon’s DSP becomes the only way to buy Roku’s logged-in users programmatically. - Performance TV Dreams: “Exposure-to-Amazon-sale” attribution is CTV’s holy grail. Early tests claim 30% lower frequency and 3x campaign efficiency. “This isn’t innovation - it’s consolidation. The giants are locking arms before the squeeze.” 2. DSP Wars: Who Loses? - The Trade Desk (TTD): Blow to Independence: TTD’s “neutral DSP” stance falters as Roku, its longtime ally, leans into Amazon. Ventura OS now looks defensive. Moat Alert: Amazon + Roku = first-party data on streaming and shopping. TTD’s UID2 can’t match that yet. - Google DV360: Missed CTV Cred: YouTube’s CTV growth isn’t enough. Google lacks Amazon’s retail data or Roku’s OEM footprint. - Smaller DSPs: Existential Threat: No logged-in CTV scale? No seat at the table. 3. Amazon’s AdTech Endgame: This partnership completes Amazon’s triple crown: Retail Media ($50B+ business) Prime Video Ads (6 ads/hour now) CTV Identity Graph (Roku’s 80M homes + Fire TV) The Hidden Advantage: Amazon can now track CTV ads → Amazon purchases without cookies. That’s a monopoly-grade attribution engine. 4. CTV’s Fragmentation Myth: Marketers complain about CTV’s chaos, but this deal reveals the real trend: Oligopoly Rising: Amazon, Roku, Disney, Netflix, and YouTube will control 90% of premium CTV inventory by 2026. FAST Fades: Free ad-supported TV (Pluto, Tubi) lacks logged-in users. Performance dollars will flee to authenticated pools. Prediction: Within 12 months, Amazon’s DSP will be the CTV buying platform for performance marketers. Jay Askinasi | Miles Fisher | Ivan Pehar | Jared Brett Lefkowitz | Lauren Benedict | Sal Candela | Jake Piasecki | Roku Adam Epstein | Gigi Harry Browne | Tinuiti Mark Stenberg | ADWEEK Vijay Balan | David Grossman | Jordan Kreisner | Larry Linietsky | Alan Moss | Krishan Bhatia Amazon

YouTube TV's subscriber count dipped for the first time in Q1. This isn’t just a minor hiccup. It reveals a lot about the nature of live TV streaming. Live TV streaming, like YouTube TV, is heavily tied to the sports calendar, much like traditional cable TV. Nielsen’s monthly TV screen time assessments show that when major sports like the NFL are off-air, broadcast and cable viewership drops—expect the same this summer. But come fall, it bounces back because sports are back on. This pattern explains why services like Peacock and Paramount+ saw spikes in January and February (thanks to the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl) but then declined. YouTube TV is especially vulnerable here. Every year, they gain more subscribers at year-end, and last year saw a big jump, likely because it was their first year with Sunday Ticket. For those of you running CTV campaigns, these trends are crucial. The ease of canceling streaming services means your target audience shifts each quarter. In Q1, campaigns on YouTube TV faced a shrinking, possibly less sports-interested audience. But later this year, you’ll have more inventory and a bigger sports fan base to reach. This applies to other services too. The audience tuning in for House of the Dragon on Max this quarter may differ from the one watching Hacks last quarter. So, if you're planning a CTV campaign, don’t just throw money at the market. Understand CTV consumption patterns to seize arbitrage opportunities, tailor your messaging to the current audience, and unlock bigger business potentials.

Here is a news item from yesterday with big implications that got mostly ignored: @Microsoft/@LinkedIn just plugged its professional identity graph into The Trade Desk’s CTV pipes. In plain English, advertisers can now target actual business decision-makers - CMOs, CIOs, procurement heads - on the biggest screen in the house, using LinkedIn data inside a programmatic TV buy. First, for advertisers, this is the long-awaited fusion of brand and precision. CTV has always been great for storytelling, and often terrible for targeting. LinkedIn has been the opposite. Now you get both. Want to show a $500K enterprise SaaS ad only to Fortune 1000 IT buyers while they watch Netflix? That’s suddenly doable. Second, competitively, this is a shot across the bow of the walled gardens. Google, Amazon, and Roku all have identity - but none have LinkedIn’s verified professional graph. And Microsoft choosing The Trade Desk as its first DSP partner is not neutral - it’s an endorsement of the “open internet” over closed ecosystems. Third, it shores up The Trade Desk’s core business: CTV. Video already drives roughly half of its business, and this makes its inventory smarter, not just bigger. The Trade Desk is turning CTV from a reach channel into a decisioning channel.