With the rise of the popularity of video content came the rise in the number of platforms offering access to movies, shows, and other video formats to audiences far and wide. Whether you’re an established CTV provider or you’re just starting, you’ll need a reliable CTV advertising platform by your side. That way, you can monetize content and get ahead of the competition. Here’s how to find the right one for your business.
What Is a CTV Advertising Platform?
A CTV advertising platform is an online platform that allows OTT publishers to monetize content through CTV advertising. These platforms connect publishers to advertisers who wish to reach wider audiences through OTT TV. In return, publishers get to tap into OTT monetization and generate video ad revenue.
So how do these platforms actually work? When a publisher decides to monetize their video content through advertising, they can join a video ad network. Using this network, they can offer their ad inventory for sale. How the transaction looks depends on the specific network and how it works.
After the publisher has sold their inventory to the right advertisers, they can use the same network to put these video ads on their website or app and track their performance. They can also tweak certain settings to maximize ad performance and, by extension, their revenue.
What to Look for in a CTV Advertising Platform
Before choosing the right CTV advertising platform, you should know exactly what it is you’re looking for. Not all ad networks are the same, and not all of them are right for your video business. However, there is a handful of key features every good ad network should have. So let’s take a look at what they are.
Yield Optimization Tools
Ad yield optimization is crucial for ensuring you’re getting the most out of each campaign. The term ad yield designates the revenue an advertisement brings in. Yield optimization is, then, the process of adjusting said advertisement to maximize income.
Yield optimization tools can include audience targeting, frequency capping, adjusting CPM floors, and more.
Targeting Options
A well-targeted ad will perform better and bring in more revenue. To make this happen, you’ll need high-quality audience targeting tools. For example, you should probably look for an ad network that has contextual targeting features. This type of targeting focuses on the context of the webpage where the ad is, rather than audience behavior.
Speaking of behavior, behavioral targeting is yet another option. As the name suggests, this method makes use of the personal information and online behavior of the audience to serve them ads they’re more likely to be interested in.
Some other targeting tools and features to look for include device targeting, geographic targeting, and more.
Ad Analytics
In order to track the performance of your ads, you need access to an array of video analytics tools. This encompasses the gathering of data necessary to make informed decisions about an ad campaign. In other words, analytics can tell you how your ad is performing, why it might be underperforming, and how to tweak it to achieve better results.
Ideally, you want your chosen advertising platform to offer real-time analytics, on top of the regularly scheduled or historical reporting. This is because real-time reports allow you to act immediately to boost the performance of your ad.
9 Best CTV Advertising Platforms for Over-the-Top Publishers
Now that you know what to look for, it’s time to take a look at some of the best ad networks and choose the right one for your OTT streaming service.
1. Google ADX
Google ADX is the biggest ad exchange on the market right now, with the top-tier premium inventory at some of the highest CPMs. It allows publishers to sell ad inventory in multiple ways, including real-time bidding, private auctions, or direct deals. It also brings together some of the most exclusive SSPs.
Google ADX ensures that the inventory sold through the exchange has maximum yield potential through the use of ad server hierarchies and similar price-setting features. However, this also means that the platform needs to offer high-traffic, premium inventory.
To ensure this kind of offer, Google ADX imposes strict eligibility requirements, including the minimum monthly traffic of 5 million website visitors. Those who don’t meet this criterion but still want to tap into everything that Google ADX offers have to go through a Google MCM partner.
Google ADX Key Features:
- Premium, high-traffic inventory
- Open and private auctions, real-time bidding, direct deals
- Ad yield management and optimization tools
- Partnered with high-end SSPs
- Some of the highest CPMs on the market
2. TargetVideo Premium Demand
TargetVideo Premium Demand is an ad program that helps OTT publishers serve video ads on their CTV apps and monetize content that way. The platform supports all kinds of video ad formats, both for VOD and live streaming content. These include, for example, instream video ads, overlay ads, and more.
The TargetVideo Premium Demand platform comes with an array of tools and features designed to make inventory trading and ad serving easier. For example, there is detailed performance tracking, which allows you to track impressions, fill rates, and more.
Lastly, aside from its in-house ad provider, TargetVideo also has a fully-fledged online video platform with a full set of video management features. Although these are not necessary for an ad platform, they can certainly come in handy for publishers looking for help in hosting, managing, and distributing their content.
For example, TargetVideo offers unlimited video hosting to all of its publishers, so they never have to worry about storage limits. The platform also features a lightweight HTML5 player optimized to serve all kinds of video ads, as well as an array of video management and analytics tools. Lastly, TargetVideo’s publishers get a dedicated ad management team in charge of optimizing campaigns and maximizing revenue.
TargetVideo Premium Demand Key Features:
- Wide variety of video ad formats
- Network of quality advertisers
- Detailed ad analytics
- Dedicated account management team
- Accompanying OVP
· Premium Google ADX Demand
· Omnichannel Monetization
· Rich Selection of Video Ad Formats
· Real-Time Performance Tracking
· Automated Reporting
3. SpringServe
SpringServe is a video ad platform that was built for the purpose of OTT advertising. In other words, the platform offers all the features that a CTV broadcaster might need in order to monetize content through ads. These include, for example, cross-platform and cross-device ad serving, real-time analytics, direct and programmatic inventory sales, advanced ad yield management, and more.
This OTT advertising platform also features some great ad fraud prevention tools, along with brand safety features. For example, it lets publishers know about any invalid traffic so they can avoid losing revenue to fraud.
SpringServe Key Features:
- CTV and OTT-focused video ad platform
- Advanced CTV advertising features
- Real-time analytics with instant optimization
- Video header bidding and direct connect
- Brand safety and ad fraud protection
4. Magnite
Formerly known as Rubicon Project, Magnite boasts some of the world’s largest publishers in its portfolio, including CNN and Bloomberg. The platform features a private marketplace for those looking for real-time bidding auctions with exclusive SSPs.
As one of the most robust ad networks out there, Magnite comes with a full stack of tools and features. Magnite’s publishers can serve ads of various formats on any device from mobile phones to OTT boxes. They also get to track the performance of these ads in real time and optimize them for better ad yield. The platform’s top clients also get access to additional features such as automated ad podding.
Magnite Key Features:
- Private marketplace
- Cross-device and cross-channel support
- Real-time actionable analytics
- Automated ad podding
- Data protection and privacy features
5. Yahoo Ad Tech (Formerly Verizon Media)
Yahoo’s ad network offers premium ad inventory for an array of devices and platforms. The network features advanced video monetization tools, making it a great choice for CTV and OTT publishers. There are, for example, both server-to-server and client-side header bidding options, access to Yahoo’s own DSP and ad exchange, and advanced contextual video advertising.
On top of this, Yahoo’s publishers get access to unified reports, real-time analytics, yield optimization tools, and more. The platform supports an array of ad formats for, pretty much, any OTT device you can think of.
Yahoo Ad Tech Key Features:
- Cross-device monetization solutions
- Wide array of video formats available
- Programmatic and video header bidding
- Brand safety and security tools
- Support for a wide array of OTT devices
6. PubMatic
PubMatic is a well-known digital advertising platform that aims to make inventory trading a simpler and more streamlined process. It encompasses all the key features other top players boast, such as cross-device advertising for all your OTT apps, including CTV.
PubMatic maintains ad and inventory quality control to ensure advertisers and publishers get the most out of every deal. Both publisher and advertiser dashboards are easy to use and packed with tools to make navigating easier, such as partner ID management tools or auction packages.
PubMatic Key Features:
- Premium ad inventory
- Ad quality control and inventory quality control
- Enterprise-level Prebid features
- Advanced, real-time analytics
- Cross-platform and cross-device support
7. Chocolate Platform
Chocolate Platform is yet another popular programmatic advertising platform that offers everything a CTV provider might need. The platform supports an array of ad formats, including rewarded, native, and pre-roll ads, VAST/VPAID tags, and so much more.
Chocolate Premium is the platform’s invite-only solution with a premium programmatic supply and 100% server-side bidding and auctions. This way, Chocolate aims to solve the issues of non-transparency, low performance, and latency in bidding.
Chocolate Platform Key Features:
- 100% server-side auctions
- Extensive cross-device support
- Various ad formats supported
- Google Exchange Bidding video partner
- In-house ad fraud protection
8. Unruly
Unruly is a leading ad tech provider that lets publishers sell inventory through programmatic direct, preferred, and non-preferred deals. It also connects publishers to an array of DSPs and gives them access to a user-friendly DMP.
The platform also features Spearad, a great advanced ad serving and unified auctioning solution. Some of this solution’s highlights include customizable ad management, advanced campaign management, live stream ad testing, and unified auctions.
Unruly Key Features:
- Programmatic direct, preferred, and non-preferred deals
- User-friendly data management platform
- Advanced ad serving features
- Unified auctions
- Advanced audience targeting
9. OpenX
OpenX is easily one of the most in-demand ad platforms on the market and the advertising partner of choice for over 130,000 publishers. This should come as no surprise, as OpenX holds the TAG Platinum Certification for fraud, malware, piracy, and inventory quality guidelines.
OpenX’s publishers enjoy access to high demand from some of the largest advertisers, as well as to partner DSPs. They can also take advantage of the platform’s packaged deals through a solution called OpenAudience, which segments publishers’ audiences into groups for easier inventory selling.
OpenX Key Features:
- Fraud, piracy, and malware protection
- Audience targeting and segmentation tools
- Dedicated account management teams
- Cross-device and cross-platform support
- Display and video CTV ads
Did You Find the Right CTV Advertising Partner?
As a CTV publisher, it is crucial that you have the right ad tech at your disposal to be able to monetize your content and continue offering great videos to your audience. TargetVideo Premium Demand is there to support you in every step of your CTV advertising journey. Aside from access to premium demand with Google ADX’s CPMs, with TargetVideo, you will also get to take advantage of a fully customizable, ad-optimized HTML5 video player and a robust OVP.
Get started with TargetVideo Premium Demand and generate income from your content with minimal effort and know-how.
