Over-the-Top (OTT) Best Practices
OTT refers to services that distribute television and media content via the internet as standalone products, separate from traditional cable companies. Similarly, Connected TV (CTV) is a way to distribute content via the internet but is delivered either natively on a TV (i.e. smart TV) or an external device (i.e. Roku, Chromecast, etc.). Many OTT services are available to use on CTV, such as streaming a show from Hulu on a Chromecast.
Both OTT and CTV are expanding spaces for programmatic advertising that present new opportunities to reach a uniquely targeted audience. Please let your Customer Success Manager know if you are interested in accessing this inventory.
Specific best practices and recommendations are listed below.
Device Type (include): Connected TV, Set Top Box, Media Player
Placement Type (include): Video
Inventory (include): Deal ID
| Do... | Don't... |
|
| Targeting |
...buy OTT placements through a private deal ID ...add OTT to pre-targeting configuration and create separate line items targeting connected TV and game consoles via DeviceType, Brand, Model ...target pre-roll and mid-roll content via the “Playback Method” field |
...use pre-existing targeting line items used for other targeting (mobile, tablet, etc.) ...target above the fold or post-roll ...use 3P Viewability vendors--they don’t work with CTV |
| Audience Targeting |
...there is limited 1st and 3rd party data available in OTT, so expect limited scale if choosing to use it. IP Address based audiences are the most viable approach. |
...use user ID based audience targeting as they are not generally supported on OTT |
| Context |
...if using a custom bidding agent, use the publisher content and context information passed in bid request |
...use most contextual targeting. Signals such as content attributes, app name, app ID, full episode player, etc. have little or no coverage at all |
| Performance |
...use relevant KPIs to optimize towards, such as completion rate, CPCV |
...optimize towards irrelevant KPIs such as CTR, CPC, etc. |
| Format |
...use VAST and high quality MP4 |
...use VPAID, MRAID, FLV, WEBM these are not accepted on CTVs |
| Creative |
...use creative up to 30s non-skippable |
...use creative >30s or skippable ads ...declare a Video API in Buzz. The majority of CTV requests do not carry a Video API as they only support basic VAST. |
| Frequency Capping |
...use IP Fallback Frequency Capping to ensure maximum coverage for frequency capping |
N/A |
| Brand Safety | N/A |
...use 3P brand safety solutions, as most will not work in CTV due to lack of data |