The pressing need for CTV standards

The growth in CTV viewing in recent years has been phenomenal. Four out of five households in the EU watched CTV in 2021, a 30% increase on 2020. It is one of the fastest technology disseminations in television history, dramatically outpacing the adoption of other new formats like HD and UHD. 

But that velocity comes at a price. The pace of adoption has meant that the industry is still catching up when it comes to setting rigorous standards that all players in the market can follow. CTV may be relatively young, but it is already a complex ecosystem with many actors, especially across a fragmented market like Europe. The need for standards covering a range of issues - including measurement, attribution, targeting, ad fraud, identity, and brand safety - is an urgent one.

This was one of the key topics discussed at a recent panel debate held by IAB Tech Lab, which I took part in. We all agreed that CTV represents a golden opportunity but, as an industry, we have to put our collective shoulder to the wheel to maximise its potential.

Why we need standards

Standards are crucial to the success of any technology that looks to bridge across multiple platforms and systems. The lessons learned from the growth of the digital media ecosystem are that they improve interoperability and quality of communication between systems, help companies mitigate risks, increase speed to market, fuel innovation, and reduce product development efforts and costs. We should also remember that they lead to an increase in revenues too.

Fortunately, there are standards being developed in just this direction for the CTV space. IAB Tech Lab set up the CTV Technical Working Group in mid 2017 and they, along with other players in the industry, are in the midst of identifying and codifying the standards required to ensure that the marketplace remains, or grows to be, as frictionless as possible. It is a vital effort that we at ShowHeroes are proud to be a part of, alongside hundreds of individuals from over a hundred different companies and counting. 

The buck does not stop there, though. There is also a definite obligation on providers to understand the needs of advertisers and agencies. In this way, they can help to drive the right solutions forward and provide the right transparency around their offerings, both now and into the future. The truth is that there is still confusion around simple concepts, such as where ads actually appear in CTV content environments.

It has therefore become even more important for all players in the industry to adhere to industry frameworks, in the same way the industry has with GDPR, ads.txt, sellers.json etc. By doing so, we help to create a seamless market for all players and contribute substantially to its self-regulation. 

The industry cannot afford to move at the same slow speed it has with adopting other standards. We must be proactive in ensuring that all stakeholders are involved in supporting and promoting them. It is important that the effort does not rest solely within the confines of industry bodies; there is a job for all of us to do in educating the industry and encouraging adoption.
 

Adapting to diversity

As well as there being differences between various broadcast technologies, there are significant differences across countries, with multiple TV regulations, platforms, and TV packages all in play alongside differing market maturities and consumer attitudes. The diversity of European markets alone is a case in point. Standards hold out the prospect of being able to operate seamlessly across all different territories. This is where global providers such as ShowHeroes come in, acting as a frictionless layer and providing simple, standardised access at scale to multiple markets and platforms. 

On the other hand, though, it should also be considered that standards in the real world are rarely wholly homogenous. Local market players have significant expertise in their own individual territories and therefore have the visibility on specific nuances in their markets, to be able to customise solutions for each territory they operate in.

The ideal scenario, therefore, is for companies to strike a balance between the two approaches, combining international standards with local expertise and knowledge; and they can achieve this by working with providers such as ShowHeroes that can help them fulfill their ambitions at both ends of the spectrum. 

For that to happen though, companies need confidence that they can lean into the CTV market. That’s why all players in the ecosystem must get behind IAB Tech Lab and work together to ensure that standards are agreed and adopted as quickly as possible. If we can do this, the impressive growth we’re seeing now could be just a taste of what’s to come.

You can watch the IAB Tech Lab panel debate, ‘CTV & Video Advertising: Growing with Standards’, here.