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Buyers remain worried that they’re paying for ads that are running on TVs that have been turned off, an enduring frustration that is caused by technology issues or, some say, a lack of transparency.
In June 2022, GroupM and measurement firm iSpot found that 8% to 10% of impressions on connected TV ran when the TV was off, costing advertisers about $1 billion a year in wasted dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
The report diagnosed one cause as from external devices delivering streaming content—a user could turn off the TV device without the streaming device knowing and could still send bid requests as a result. Due to the error, 17% of impressions coming via external devices were delivered when the TV was shut off, the report found, while the problem was virtually nonexistent on smart TV apps.
Over a year later, buyers are still scrutinizing their ad buys to make sure ads don’t run when the TV is off. While two buyers say the problem has improved, it still persists.
“[Publishers are] rigging the game in their favor, and that’s why we need full transparency,” said one buyer, who requested anonymity to freely discuss industry relations.
Advertisers’ struggle to make sure their ads appear on a TV that’s actually playing is emblematic of the challenges of buying streaming video, where the ad tech and deal structures are still designed for linear television or online video rather than connected television, a more hybrid medium.
But transparency is easier said than done when the industry is not fully in agreement with the root cause of the problem. Likewise, measuring is not straightforward while the industry is still developing tools and standards.
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Buyers are working on fixing the problem, though they’re not always unified on its source.
MediaMonks started evaluating the rate of ads running with the TV off a year and a half ago, said head of brand investment Matthew Kramer, whose findings were similar to GroupM’s figures of between 8% and 10%. Now, instances of TV off inventory are in the low single digits.
Kramer attributes this decline to the agency prioritizing more direct deals with content owners.