For years, media buyers have been pushing connected TV publishers to share information about what shows – and even which apps – their ads are running against.
But most programmers aren’t giving ground, so some agencies are starting to create their own methods to get more transparency into their CTV buys.
Indie shop Rain the Growth Agency, for example, worked with Chalice Custom Algorithms to build its own algorithm for finding show-level data and identifying specific streaming content to bid against.
“We’ve been pushing publishers to be more transparent” for years, said David Nyurenberg, Rain the Growth’s director of video product development and innovation.
AdExchanger spoke with Nyurenberg about how brands can navigate the opaque landscape of CTV ad buying.
AdExchanger: What is the state of transparency (or lack thereof) right now in CTV ad buying?
DAVID NYURENBERG: Linear TV has always provided show-level transparency, which marketers use as an indicator of performance. But show-level data is not common in streaming. A lot of publishers are afraid that marketers will cherry-pick certain inventory and leave the rest underinvested, which could impact their bottom line. Publishers also cite the Video Privacy Protection Act as a reason why they can’t share this data in the bidstream. But in the case of show-level data, the VPPA is an excuse.
We work with a lot of performance advertisers and those brands absolutely expect to know where their ads are running. So we’re trying to find more back doors into transparency.
What do you mean by “back doors”?
We built an algorithm with Chalice Custom Algorithms to help marketers find and bid for programmatic inventory within the shows they actually want to run in. We can build inclusion lists within our algorithm.
If our algorithm sees an opportunity to bid on, say, a show streaming on NBCUniversal at 7 pm in New York, we can match the information provided in the bid request with data from Nielsen’s Gracenote.
Since Gracenote has metadata and automatic content recognition data that maps out which shows are playing where, we can match certain bid requests to actual program schedules. It’s a probabilistic match, not a deterministic one, and we’re right about 95% of the time.
When we know what works well for our clients on linear TV, we can help them buy the same or similar shows on streaming channels.
Where can you use this algorithm?
Right now, this algorithm only works with vMVPDs [virtual multichannel video programming distributors] because they share the necessary signals in the bidstream. The majority of vMVPDs don’t own most of the content they distribute, so they’re less reluctant to share more data about the content where ads are running.
Most distributors pass information about channel, genre, time of day and ZIP code. Spectrum, for example, now shares show-level data, so we can bid deterministically against show titles on Spectrum inventory. Samsung also now offers private marketplace deals with show-level information for higher CPMs.
We use this algorithm in a smaller, challenger DSP called Pontiac Intelligence in addition to The Trade Desk and Magnite’s ClearLine.
How much of CTV spend among your clients is actually going through this algorithm?
We don’t have a ton of spend going here. We still have to spend the bulk of our media budgets on the major streaming platforms, such as Disney, Peacock and Paramount.
Our algorithm is a good ancillary tactic that drives better performance despite making up a smaller portion of our overall spend.
How does performance compare between marketers who use this algorithm to buy CTV ads and those who don’t?
Marketers who use the algorithm see better engagement rates. Although CPMs are a bit higher when we’re bidding on inventory we know works, the improved performance balances out the higher costs.
What has to happen for there to be more transparency across the board for CTV ad buying?
Media buyers need to demand it and push publishers for it. They also need to be willing to pull some of their spend if their demands aren’t being met. Money talks – it’s the only thing that will move the needle. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re there yet.
Without substantive improvements to today’s state of CTV ad transparency, smaller marketers and direct-to-consumer brands may not rush to spend more of their ad budgets on streaming TV.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.
For more articles featuring David Nyurenberg, click here.
