What CTV advertising is and how to buy and measure it

CTV advertising, short for connected TV advertising, is video advertising shown on a television that streams content over the internet. The viewer is watching a streaming app, YouTube or a free ad-supported channel on a smart TV, a game console or a plug-in streaming device, and your ad plays in a break the way a TV spot would.

The difference from traditional television is in how it's bought. You buy CTV through digital platforms, with audience targeting and reporting that look more like online advertising than like a broadcast schedule. The difference from mobile video is the screen. People watch CTV from the couch, often with others in the room, and rarely click.

Those two facts shape everything about how CTV should be planned. It's a reach channel with digital buying. Judging it like a performance channel is an easy way to waste a CTV budget.

CTV, OTT and streaming TV

You'll see several terms used for overlapping things. CTV refers to the device, the connected television. OTT, short for over the top, refers to content delivered over the internet instead of through a cable or satellite box, and it can be watched on any screen, including phones and laptops. Streaming TV is the everyday name for the same content.

For planning, the useful question is which screen the ad will actually play on. An ad bought as OTT might end up on a phone. An ad bought for TV screens plays on a television. Google's About device targeting page defines TV screens as devices that stream TV content, such as smart TVs, gaming consoles and connected devices like Chromecast. Whatever platform you use, check its device report to see where your impressions went.

Ways to buy CTV

There are three broad routes, and many advertisers use more than one.

The first is YouTube through Google Ads. YouTube is watched on television sets, and Google lets you target TV screens as a device in Display and Video campaigns, according to the same device targeting page. This is often the easiest starting point for advertisers already running Google Ads, because the account, billing and audience tools are familiar.

The second is programmatic buying through a demand-side platform, or DSP. A DSP lets you bid on ad inventory from many streaming apps and channels at once, using audience data and frequency settings across them. You can buy in open auctions, in private deals with selected publishers, or through guaranteed arrangements at a fixed price. This route gives the widest reach outside YouTube and asks the most of whoever runs it, from choosing inventory to checking where ads actually ran.

The third is buying directly from a streaming service or a TV network's digital arm. Direct deals can secure specific shows, events or audiences and can come with the publisher's own reporting, which makes them a fit for planned flights with a set budget.

The right mix depends on the audience, the budget and how much control you need over where the ad appears. A small first test is often simplest on one route, measured well, before adding more.

What CTV is good at

CTV puts a full-screen video in front of people who chose to watch something, on a large screen. That makes it a strong way to tell a story, show a product or a place, and build familiarity with people who haven't heard of you.

It also brings some of the targeting and reporting of digital advertising to television. You can aim at an audience defined by interests, location or your own customer data where the platform allows it, and you can see how many impressions ran and how often people saw them.

What CTV doesn't do well is drive an immediate click. There's usually no cursor and no reason to pick up the remote. Planning CTV to deliver leads directly, and judging it on that, leads to the conclusion that it failed when it was never designed to deliver them.

How to measure CTV as reach

Measure what a reach buy is supposed to produce.

Unique reach tells you how many different people or households saw the ad. Frequency tells you how often, on average, each of them saw it. Completion rate tells you how much of the ad people watched.

Set targets for each before launch. A reach goal, a frequency range and a completion target give you a clear way to judge delivery. Frequency deserves particular attention when you buy across several platforms. Each platform caps frequency within its own inventory, but no platform sees the others, so the same household can be hit far more often than any single report shows.

Then look for the effect on the business. A few methods work without depending on clicks.

• Brand lift studies, where a platform offers them, compare people who saw the ad with people who didn't on awareness or consideration questions.
• Search and site lift, where you watch branded search and direct site visits in the areas and periods where CTV ran.
• Geo holdouts, where you run CTV in some markets and not in comparable ones, then compare sales or leads between them.

None of these is as tidy as a conversion count. They're the honest way to measure a channel whose effect shows up later and somewhere else.

Checking where your ads ran

On programmatic CTV in particular, ask for placement reports and check them. You want to know which apps and channels showed your ad and on which devices. Inventory quality varies, and a report that shows impressions without placements leaves you unable to tell whether the ad reached a living room or somewhere else entirely. Use verification tools where your platform supports them.

Restricted categories

If you advertise housing, jobs or credit, targeting limits apply on CTV just as elsewhere. For YouTube through Google Ads, Google's housing, employment and credit policy says those ads can't be targeted by gender, age, parental status, marital status or ZIP code, and that the change applies in the U.S. and Canada only. On a DSP or a direct deal, check the platform's and the publisher's rules for your category before building audiences, and avoid narrowing by personal traits even where a tool would let you.

Getting started

A first CTV test should answer one question. Pick a goal, usually reach within a defined audience and area, set reach, frequency and completion targets, and plan how you'll look for an effect on search, site traffic or sales. Choose one buying route you can measure well.

Our YouTube and CTV ads work plans and buys CTV as reach and reports it that way, and our media planning work sets how it fits with search and social. Both are billed hourly, CAD $175 for strategy and CAD $110 for media management.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between CTV and OTT?

CTV is the device, a television connected to the internet. OTT is content delivered over the internet, which can be watched on a TV, phone or computer. An OTT buy can end up on any of those screens, so check the device report.

Can I buy CTV through Google Ads?

Yes, through YouTube. Google's device targeting help page lists TV screens as a device type and says that option is available for Display and Video campaigns.

How do I measure CTV advertising?

Measure reach, frequency and completion rate against targets set before launch, then look for an effect through brand lift studies where available, branded search and site visits, or a geo holdout comparing markets with and without CTV.

Should CTV be judged on clicks or leads?

No. Viewers rarely click a television, so click and lead counts understate what CTV does. Plan it as a reach buy and keep response goals for channels where people can act on the spot.