Contextual Advertising for CTV and FAST Raises the Bar on CPMs
The challenge with FAST advertising is how to serve appropriate ads when limited first-party data about the consumer is available. Contextual advertising can provide targeting for this untracked FAST audience adding scene-by-scene detail of exactly what a viewer is watching.
“If you are on the publisher side, you don’t have any information. Hence, they struggle with the fill rate and CPMs,” says Raghu Kodige, founder and CEO at Anoki, a company that specializes in AI-powered contextual CTV advertising. “Anybody who has more data is able to fill and charge more. This is what you will normally hear from the Samsung’s and Roku’s of the world, who have more demand than supply at times, because they have that data.”
Scene-by-Scene Detail
“The early versions of contextual in video was taking the audio [from video] and converting it into text, and then looking for keywords within the text,” says Kodige. Now they do multimodal analysis of the content, audio, video, and closed captioning. “We generate metadata that says how we describe a particular scene. There can be multiple outputs from that: not just ‘this is a bar scene’ but ‘this is a bar scene set in Boston.’ Or it could be a beach scene, with metadata that says, ‘this is a beach scene featuring a couple sitting.’ There's lots of data that gets generated. We store that in embeddings [how AI companies store vast amounts of data] so that you can stitch that back together depending on what the query is.”
“As content is being streamed to the end user, we can generate additional metadata. Then going into an ad break, we can look up, ‘What was the scene that the user just saw?’ and use that additional information, whether it's bid requests or PMPs [private marketplaces],” says Kodige. This scene-level data creates a much more targeted and valuable CPM.
This newer technology is also very attractive for agencies because it allows them to place ads in the right context and be also privacy-safe. “You’re not collecting any information about the users. So, as we move into this cookie-less, more privacy-centric world, this solution becomes very, very attractive,” he says.
Metadata to Increase CPMs
Anoki announced a partnership with Amagi in early August. Anoki’s ContextIQ platform generates contextual scene-level metadata on select content served by Amagi using multi-model generative AI that goes much beyond genres and text analysis. This ensures hyper-relevant ad placements.
“CPMs in the FAST advertising space can fluctuate based on content quality, audience demographics, ad format, and competition,” says James Smith, EVP & GM, ADS PLUS at Amagi. “Generally, CPMs tend to be higher than traditional linear TV due to the targeted nature of FAST advertising and the premium audience it attracts. We’ve observed a steady upward trend in CPMs as the FAST ecosystem matures. The promise of CTV was always based on the opportunity to reach the most qualified audiences for your ads,” he explains. “Advertisers increasingly leverage granular data to reach specific audiences, enhancing campaign effectiveness.”
“We started doing this our own app, but once we had the data on our service, [we realized] that the same channels also get distributed to other platforms,” Kodige says. “So we started working with the content partners and platforms like Amagi, where we can add this contextual data.”
Improving on ACR
Previously only hardware companies (Roku, Samsung, LG, Vizio, etc.) could use automatic content recognition (ACR) on linear viewing to do a better match for advertising targeting. “ACR is only for the manufacturer, and that's why all the content partners struggle with targeting because they don't have access to that,” says Kodige. “If you are a broadcaster or studio providing the content, you don't have access.”
They also work directly with content partners to allow their sales team to sell their share of inventory. “It doesn't have to be only through Amagi; it could be a partner that is coming in through different system, like Frequency or some of the other vendors,” Kodige says.
While matching content to advertising seems like a common use case, they also can match advertising to content. “Someone can upload one of their creatives and then we can analyze the creative and come back with, ‘Here are all the scenes where this creative would be very appropriate,’” says Kodige.
How much more can somebody get on a CPM level for contextual advertising? “I think anywhere between eight to $10 CPM uplift is what we see,” says Kodige. They have started offering this in the US and are expanding to Australia and Western Europe later this year. This kind of contextual targeting has the ability to raise the bar on ad inventory targeting and prices, which is just what the industry needs.
Related Articles
One of the arguments in favor of contextual advertising is that it makes it easier to match the tone and sentiment of the content it accompanies instead of thoughtlessly throwing an ad for a dating app into the middle of a tragic news report. What are its other advantages that draw advertisers to it? How does the current state of contextual ads deliver on its promise and where does it fall short? TVREV's Alan Wolk, Vevo's Julie Triolo, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, and Advertiser Perceptions' Erin Firneno discuss in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.
04 Oct 2024
"Contextual advertising is a really hot topic in TV advertising right now," declared TVREV's Alan Wolk at Streaming Media Connect 2024. But what exactly is it, and how is its growing presence in CTV and streaming changing the TV experience and particularly the way advertisers buy media? Wolk, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, and Mad Leo Consulting's C.J. Leonard explore these issues in this clip from their panel at Streaming Media Connect.
04 Oct 2024
A recent study by BrightLine, the leading platform for interactive streaming ads, revealed fresh data about the incremental impact of interactive advertising for CTV, including major new findings showing how effective interactive ads are with encouraging unaided recall.
09 Sep 2024
Wurl, a leader in the CTV industry, recently published "A Full-Funnel Approach to CTV Marketing 2024," a new report developed in partnership with parent company, AppLovin, a leading marketing platform, and measurement and analytics company, Adjust. The report walks readers through tangible considerations for three major stages of the marketing cycle: awareness, consideration, and decision-making. In this Q&A, Peter Crofut, VP, Business Development, highlights the most effective strategies advertisers can use during each of these stages.
26 Aug 2024
On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, at Streaming Media Connect, Alan Wolk, one of the industry's most influential thought leaders, moderated a panel that confronted the current challenges (or, some would say, failures) to reliably deliver the right ads to viewers and measurable results to brands and discussed innovative technologies and strategies to make streaming ads perform. Panelists included Christina Chung of Estrella MediaCo, Julie Triolo of Vevo, C.J. Leonard of Mad Leo Consulting, and Erin Firneno of Advertiser Perceptions.
20 Aug 2024
On Wednesday, August 21, adtech expert Tim Ware will moderate the panel "Over the Hedge: Monetizing CTV and FAST Channels as Walled Gardens Proliferate." The emergence of the smart TV OEM has created increasing opportunities for platform distributors and challenges for content providers as distributors grab greater percentages of inventory and revenue splits to generate greater revenue upside to selling the hardware. How do programmers contend with the high costs of programming that require ad support among the next generation of walled gardens in smart TV OEMs? A panel of industry experts from Samsung, Roku, TVREV, and IAB will discuss these issues in-depth.
01 Aug 2024
On Tuesday, August 20, at Streaming Media Connect, Alan Wolk, Co-Founder/Lead Analyst, TVREV, will moderate the panel "Ad Counsel: Delivering Streaming Ads That Convert," which confronts the current challenges (or, some would say, failures) to reliably deliver the right ads to viewers and measurable results to brands and discusses innovative technologies and strategies to make streaming ads perform. Confirmed panelists include Christina Chung of Estrella Media, Julie Triolo of Vevo, C.J. Leonard of Infinitive, and Erin Firneno of Advertiser Perceptions.
22 Jul 2024
Given that traditional media measurement companies have always underrepresented diverse audiences, minority-owned content companies targeting multicultural audiences face unique challenges in tracking those audiences and leveraging the data to monetize their channels, as Publicis Media EVP Cultural Investment & Innovation Stephen Paez explains in this candid discussion with media universe cartographer Evan Shapiro at Streaming Media NYC.
15 Jul 2024
The landscape of Free, Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels has significantly shifted in the last 12 months. Once dominated by niche content providers, the market has witnessed a surge in activity from major studios and broadcasters. This influx of premium programming has brought a new level of competition, forcing FAST channels to adapt and optimize their offerings to stay afloat.
11 Jul 2024
TV is being digitized at an interesting time on the digital advertising timeline. Just as advertisers are able to target audiences on the big screen, their favorite approach - third party cookies - are going away. This is inconvenient, but David Naffis, GM of CTV at Kargo, argues that it's also a catalyst to force advertisers to test and perfect other targeting methodologies on CTV. One of the most promising is contextual targeting.
19 Mar 2024
Ad buying is changing. For example, now you can buy from an agency that has deep knowledge of data around local viewing, or you can go to a TV manufacturer that has deep knowledge of all of the viewing on its hardware.
10 Nov 2023
For this column, I spoke with Larry Allen, VP and general manager of data and addressable enablement at Comcast Advertising, about a question that lands firmly on the deterministic side: "What is addressable advertising?" The term "addressable" refers to targeting digital and broadcast inventory and being able to buy audience segments on a household level.
04 Oct 2023