Advertising on Connected TV (CTV), otherwise known as Over-the-Top (OTT), is a hot topic for advertisers who want to get their messages on any device, including TVs that can be connected to the Internet. According to eMarketer, upwards of 40 percent of the world’s population are “digital video viewers.” But advertising on CTV has enough pitfalls to discourage marketers from embracing it. During a CES 2021 session, DoubleVerify chief executive Mark Zagorski and chief product officer Jack Smith enumerated the challenges and proposed solutions. Continue reading CES: Advertisers Need Better Measurement to Embrace OTT

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a shift to streaming media, creating opportunities for TV manufacturers. In late 2019, Vizio TV, one of the biggest TV makers in North America, began selling ads for streaming movies, TV shows and digital videos on its screens. It now wants to build out this new business unit to create a recurring revenue source separate from TV set sales. Sources said that Vizio’s platform revenue this year comes mostly from advertising, which appears to be on track to double year-over-year. Continue reading Smart TV Makers Want a Bigger Slice of Streaming Ad Market

Media center app developer Plex signed a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to add an unspecified number of free movies and TV shows to its app when it debuts ad-supported video streaming later this year. Plex hopes to evolve its app into a “one-stop shop” for digital media, with plans to resell video subscription services and add transactional VOD in 2020. Plex chief executive Keith Valory noted that you “shouldn’t have to go to a lot of different apps to get the content you care about.” Continue reading Plex Inks Deal with Warner Bros. for Movies and TV Shows

Newsweek Media Group (NMG) is facing accusations of fake website traffic, amid a wider fraud investigation. Two advertising tech companies — AppNexus, which sold online ads for NMG, and SpotX, which sold video ads — have cut ties with the company, pointing specifically to fake traffic on NMG’s International Business Times websites. DoubleVerify, which offers software to verify the quality of locations where ads appear, has also warned advertisers about spurious traffic on the four IBTimes sites and Newsweek’s U.K. site. Continue reading Newsweek Media Group Faces New Charges of Fake Traffic