Myth Busters: CTV Edition

People are streaming more than ever. The pandemic increased CTV adoption, and now, advertisers are working to keep up with this consumption. Navigating this quickly evolving space can be difficult. That's why TripleLift surveyed more than 500 advertisers to uncover the most common myths and misconceptions about CTV.

Debunking the CTV Marketplace

As with any new(ish) technology, there’s a lot of buzz and misinformation around CTV right now. Here are three CTV marketplace myths that need busting.

CTV is only an awareness driver.

According to TripleLift’s survey, only 17% of CTV buyers say in-break ads were for awareness, 1 in 4 say they’re effective for sales. CTV has a variety of formats suitable for each part of the buying funnel. With the right combination of creative, targeting, and measurement, advertisers can drive consumers across the funnel to meet your campaign goals.

Only upfront commitments drive big-screen video buys

Buyers like upfronts because they’re easy and optimize their budget. They know exactly what inventory they’ll get and how much they’ll pay. But that doesn’t mean programmatic buying across publishers is out. A healthy mix of upfront commitments and scatter budgets will lead to optimized and effective plans.

Video and investment teams are responsible for CTV buying

Digital, programmatic, traditional, and innovation teams are purchasing CTV at staggering rates. Buying teams need to come together to form holistic strategies that minimize bidding against each other and maximize ROI.

Fighting Fraud in CTV

Despite what the pessimists might say, fraud in CTV is preventable. Below are some widespread misconceptions about fraud in CTV and their counterpoints.

Fraud in CTV doesn’t occur in PMPs

1 in 4 CTV buyers say purchasing directly from publishers and platforms through PMP/PG deals is the most effective method of preventing fraud in CTV advertising.

“Don’t assume you’re safe from IVT just because you’re buying on a PMP,” suggests TripleLift’s Product Director Jonathan Teitloff. “If you don’t recognize a publisher's name, do some homework before buying a deal. Trust exchanges with clear IVT protection and fraud guarantees. Prioritize direct paths to publishers rather than intermediaries. Pay attention to your CPM and CPA metrics.

Remember, PMPs and Programmatic Guaranteed deals are just as susceptible to fraud as the open exchange.

SSPs aren’t responsible for fraud.

Every platform has to play its part in preventing fraud, and  SSPs are no exception. Any good SSP will have a multi-step, anti-fraud plan to ensure quality inventory.

Ask your SSP if they’re bidding on the most directly sourced inventory and if the inventory is being scanned before making a bid. Finally, check if they have a partnership with a third party that prevents ads from going on misinformation sites.

Invalid traffic and ad fraud are the same thing

TripleLift’s partnered survey with HUMAN found that more than 40% of buyers mistakenly think IVT and ad fraud are interchangeable terms. In reality, ad fraud is a subset of invalid traffic — both can be prevented with an ad fraud partner.

What’s Invalid Traffic?

Advertising impressions generated by bots or any form of nonhuman traffic. Often conflated with ad fraud, but not all IVT is malicious.

What’s Ad Fraud?

The practice of fraudulently representing online advertising impressions, clicks, conversion, or data events to generate revenue. Ad fraud is a subset of IVT.

Fraud in CTV is inevitable

Overall, CTV is a safe environment and is getting safer by the day due to the solutions and precautions buyers demand.

Navigating CTV Complexity

Leveraging content metadata is a great way to find your target audience.

Direct-to-publisher deals are the only buying method.

A mix of direct-to-publisher targeting and deals through an SSP will maximize the scale and efficiency of a campaign. As TripleLift’s CTV Product Marketing Manager, Aileen Tobin, says, “Relying solely on direct publisher relationships constrains the available supply universe, making it more expensive and harder to find the exact buyers are looking for.

CTV content metadata isn’t available.

SSPs can provide targeting and reporting metadata for transparent and efficient campaigns. Unfortunately, most DSPs lack the right reporting and targeting features to take advantage of this data. However, a good SSP will be able to provide you with the right solutions to use content metadata to your advantage.

FAST and AVOD channels are of lower quality than SVOD

Ad-supported streaming services efficiently reach the same quality and depth of audiences as SVOD. As TripleLift’s General Manager of Connected TV, Michael Shields, says, “Thanks to a focus on curating content catalogs for passionate, loyal fan bases, the CTV mid-market of FAST and AVOD players have maintained deeply invested audiences, yielding lower churn rates and higher engagement.

So now what?

Empower yourself with this guide to confidently plan and execute your next CTV campaign.