As the world starts to get back on its feet due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one space that has significantly benefitted from having people locked down in their homes is the content consumption space. Content on television is in short supply and viewers have turned to video streaming platforms.
What is OTT Advertising?
The term over-the-top refers to the service used to stream digital content to a TV or similar device. The group of devices commonly classified as OTT include:
- Streaming boxes (Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung Cast)
- HDMI sticks (Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick)
- Smart TV (through in-TV apps like Netflix or HBO Go)
- Game consoles (Xbox, Playstation)
- DVR set-top boxes
- Internet-enabled smart blu-ray/DVD players
Difference between OTT and Connected TV (CTV)
In the past, describing the difference between OTT and CTV has been a matter of opinion. Luckily, the IAB Tech Lab has created some concrete definitions for these two terms.
- OTT: Content that is streaming via popular services like Netflix and Hulu.
- CTV: Video that is delivered via an Internet connection on a big screen, e.g. a smart TV. Other Internet-enabled devices like Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, and game consoles also fall into this category.
OTT Advertising Status during COVID-19
According to the Publicis Groupe India report and Nielsen India report, media consumption on streaming OTT platforms has registered a 34 to 60% increase. With the increase in media consumption, it is no surprise that the volume of advertisements inserted into these streaming platforms has also exponentially increased. Brands have started to pour more and more of their media dollars into these OTT platforms with precision targeting enabling brands to reach the right audience based on their content consumption preferences and other behavior and demographic targeting.
The latest TAM AdEx report on ad insertions on the OTT streaming platforms has seen an increase of about 98% in Jan-May 20 in comparison to Jan-May 19. Also, the number of OTT platforms has increased from 24 to 41 for the same period. Ad insertions on OTT platforms doubled in April, which marked the first full month of the COVID-19 lockdown, over March, defined as a pre-COVID-19 period.
- February: 11,000 ad insertions
- March: 16,000 ad insertions
- April: 33,000 ad insertions
While the advertising volumes have increased in the OTT platforms, the category mix and the advertiser mix has gone through a significant shift as well. The research firm also found that the number of categories, advertisers, and brands on advertising OTT platforms came down month on month in April 20. The number of categories reduced by 20 in April 2020 as compared to the previous month. Similarly, the number of advertisers and brands dropped by 16 and 43 respectively month on month in April 2020.
On one hand, as many as 20 categories have dropped advertising in the OTT platforms, a lot of categories have started to advertise. These include 34 new categories, 82 new advertisers, and 119 new brands inserting ads on these OTT platforms in April 2020.
An increase in consumption and engagement is good for the OTT streaming platforms, however, if this increase in the primary metrics does not translate to revenue, everything becomes a moot point. OTT publishers need a comprehensive advertising revenue management platform to improve CPMs, increase sales, maximize yield, reduce operational errors, and improve throughput all without losing control of their data.
About Symmetriq
Symmetriq is an Omni Channel Revenue Management platform allowing you to unify inventory, manage quote to cash, and maximize revenue across OTT, Digital, Linear, and Print in a Single Cloud-Based SaaS Advertising Revenue Management platform. Symmetriq was born out of the need to provide tools, technologies, and platforms to enable media companies to manage and run a profitable advertising business. Our omni-channel advertising revenue management platform is built natively on the cloud with the latest web technologies with the scale being the primary driver without compromising on security and compliance which has become paramount in the current privacy-first world. With Symmetriq you can:
- Scale your ad sales
- Streamline your ad operations
- Reduce your leaky revenue bucket
- Get complete visibility on your revenue
- Manage multiple rate cards as your business scales
- Customize your product catalog based on your business requirements
- Measure the health of your advertising business in real-time
We help leading publishers across the globe manage their complex advertising business in a single platform enabling them to run a profitable media business. For any queries, please reach out to info@symmetriq.io.
