“On TV & Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in advanced TV and video.
Today’s column is by PubMatic Global VP of OTT and CTV Nicole Scaglione.
A major selling point of linear TV inventory is the information that comes with it. Linear media buyers are able to pick specific genres, shows and even episodes.
But publishers have pushed back on providing the same level of transparency for programmatic CTV. The combination of audience targeting and content targeting is just too much for them to stomach. After all, it could give brands the ability to “cherry-pick” premium inventory.
But brands should be able to get more transparency on programmatic CTV. Just as importantly, publishers should get something in return for sharing this information.
In advertising, as in life, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
The programmatic turning point
Transparent content object signals are the keystone that will bring the best of linear advertising together with the best of programmatic advertising.
Publishers have built up this keystone to mean something specific and relatively negative. Their primary concern is that brands, armed with so much information, will target a much smaller, more specific number of impressions, leaving them with an undervalued, picked-over asset that ignores large amounts of less-desirable placements.
For a long time, programmatic was the fast-food joint of the restaurant world. Brands wanted scale at low prices. This was the hallmark of display advertising for years. Sellers gave it to them, but the industry was opaque, overly complex and plagued by fraud. At the peak of this cycle, brands were buying “target audiences” that were dramatically larger than the actual number of people in that real-life audience. High frequency and bad data fueled the problem.
Today, there’s more transparency, more accuracy and much less fraud. Our industry is now a fine-dining establishment. We’ve done such a good job that brands are actually willing to pay extra to get the audiences that matter to them on good, quality content. Hear that, publishers? Brands are willing to pay more.
In return, though, they are asking for content signals to inform their CTV media buys. This isn’t the equivalent of asking for extra pickles on a cheap burger. They’re in a nice restaurant. And they are essentially asking for extra caviar. If publishers have the caviar, they should sell it – at the right price.
Publishers might push back here and say this is their secret sauce. There is no way to manage this level of cherry-picking without literally going out of business. But there is a way forward that can give advertisers transparency and ensure publishers maintain the value of their entire content portfolio.
Brands crave content signals
One approach is using programmatic guaranteed (PG) deals to package specific inventory at a specific price. Rather than go directly to open auction, publishers can dip a toe and get comfortable with just how much information to share and at what price. The demand is there.
Many aggregator publishers run into complexity because of contracts with content creators who limit the amount of transparency that can be provided. Publishers can use this to their advantage. If they know that sharing content signals using the “content object” field can bring in new demand, that can be used as a bargaining chip in future agreements. Over time, more contracts will include specific stipulations that make it easier for publishers to be more transparent with buyers.
Content signals can also be used as a point of differentiation for smaller CTV publishers. Brands are likely to be more receptive to a new publisher if they know that they’ll be able to learn more about the content.
Publishers are also concerned that brands will somehow be able to use content signals to “game the system” and buy media on the open auction without paying extra in the future. This, like every technology challenge we’ve had in the past, is simply an issue that needs to be better understood and resolved. It’s not an excuse for inaction.
We’ve arrived at a major moment for programmatic. Linear TV dollars are shifting, leaving opportunities up for grabs for publishers that make the right moves. Brands want it. Publishers can benefit from it. It’s time to get serious about making it happen.
Follow PubMatic (@PubMatic) and AdExchanger (@AdExchanger) on Twitter.
For more articles featuring Nicole Scaglione, click here.
