What Hit us in 2024?
With the seismic shifts that reshaped the digital advertising industry this past year, I won’t be exaggerating if I say 2024 was one for the books. From unexpected cookie reversals to landmark legal battles, this year has been a rollercoaster for the industry. Streaming wars (further?) intensified with strategic acquisitions, as major players jockeyed for position in the CTV arena, with everyone wanting a larger slice of the st(r)eaming pie.
While it was hard to keep a pulse on all the shockwaves, here’s a few that would undoubtedly have a long-term impact on the future of CTV.
Surge in CTV Ad Spending
Can’t say no one saw this coming. With cord-cutting on the rise and U.S. adults spending over two hours daily watching CTV in 2024, the industry's emphasis on CTV was clearly warranted. Expectedly, 2024 saw a remarkable increase in CTV ad spending, surpassing $30 billion and marking a 22% jump from 2023. This growth not only reflects the increasing importance of CTV in advertisers' strategies due to a shift from the cord to the IP, but also highlights this surge to be an outcome of the radically changed economic climate.
Expansion of Ad-Supported Tiers
Major streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and Netflix introduced ad-supported subscription tiers. While this expansion created new opportunities for advertisers to reach audiences across premium content, it also led to an almost meteoric proliferation of CTV inventory and consequently the challenges in making sense of these disparate data points across a whole galaxy of distribution platforms.
Integration of Live Sports
The migration of live sports to streaming platforms has also been a key driver of the increase in CTV ad spend and the expansion in ad supported tiers across platforms. With over 65% of Americans switching to CTV to watch live sports in 2024 - a triple increase compared to just a few years ago - it’s no surprise that ad dollars continued to pour in. CTV’s advanced targeting capabilities and brand-safe ecosystem are also key reasons why it’s turning to be live sports advertisers’ blue-eyed boy.
Rise of AI-Powered Audience Targeting
The launch of AI-powered platforms, such as ElementalTV’s very own 1Audience, nearly transformed programmatic audience-based buying. With CTV inventory traditionally sold on an app/platform basis and bought on an audience-basis, 1Audience finally addressed this tale as old as time - by empowering publishers with AI-powered, deep audience insights and subsequently bringing them closer to demand through premium, high-value audience offerings.
Focus on Performance Metrics
This year also witnessed a notable shift from brand awareness to performance-based CTV campaigns. Advertisers are now demanding more robust performance metrics, pushing the industry to deliver the same level of measurability found in digital advertising.
Advancements in Signal Fidelity
While there continues to be an increase in emphasis on performance metrics, improvements in signal fidelity also correspondingly enhanced the overall accuracy of audience targeting and campaign performance. Recognizing that providing more detailed audience and contextual data can lead to premium CPMs amongst other competitive advantages, publishers slowly warmed up to the idea of passing more detailed content/context information in bid requests.
As the eventful 2024 draws to a close, it's clear that the CTV/streaming landscape has undergone some transformative changes, whether good or bad, that will forever reshape advertising as we know it. However, with ElementalTV’s powerful innovations driving more transparency in the ecosystem, we’re beyond proud to be shifting the tide, hopefully in the right direction.
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