In the US — a market I blame for many ofadvertising’s worst trends — CTV is growing, profitable, but also deeplyproblematic.

Here’s why: Fraud and Lack of transparency. These two go hand-in-hand. (there’sother issues but let’s stick with these)

Most of the CTV fraud figures you hear about are likely coming from the US,simply because it’s a much larger and more “advanced” market (and I use thatword loosely).

Much like in display, CTV fraud is estimated at around 20%, and some analystspeg the total market size at $10 billion. Why is it so attractive tofraudsters? Because it’s perceived as TV — safe, trusted — and commands muchhigher CPMs. Read this article to understand what the market is like in this US(first comment).

I’ve been tracking ad fraud for years. We presented on fraud in CTV back in2019, warning that it would get worse. Nothing meaningful was done. Instead,most headlines today are about clients under-investing in CTV and being urgedto spend more. That’s not the solution.

So what should broadcasters do?

Avoid the tainted “CTV” label. Instead, ringfence your media and offer thefollowing:

Transparent environments.
Controlled pricing; rethink how you work with managed services and anyone whobundles your inventory.
Offer true measurement for incremental reach, outcomes, and ROI
Control the tech and don’t rely on the vast overcomplicated ad-tech ecosystemthat clearly cannot be trusted to protect your brand, pricing and product.
Strengthen direct client relationships with first-party data and in-campaignoptimization

Broadcasters (especially outside the US) are already measured by JICs and MOCs,often with digital metering in place. These bodies are very much trusted bybuyers.

Here’s an example from yesterday - I watched a popular sports streaming app onmy TV. At halftime, 15 minutes of back-to-back ads. With no commentary might Iadd. Instead I got 15 minutes (pretty much) of ads and this is what I got:Toyota (3x) Hyundai (2x) McDonald’s (1x) Some Viagra alternative (2x) Airbnb(2x)

Crazy frequency. If the ads included data/targeting then it was poorlyexecuted; I'm already an Airbnb host, and… I’ll skip jokes about the Viagra.

For broadcasters, all this could be done without being lumped into the longtailof CTV, which is riddled with problems. There’s a clear opportunity here tocreate a separate, trusted product — one that the industry can believe in. Andone that advertisers really need. Real humans engaged with the big screen.

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