We’re in the midst of a transformative moment for marketing. The explosion of streaming has redefined what people mean when they say they’re going to watch TV. On top of the usual diet of series, films, and sports, creator-produced content has increasingly become a major player on TV screens everywhere. According to Nielsen’s total TV and streaming report for the U.S., YouTube reached a record high in watch time in March 2024 to become the most watched streaming platform.
At the same time, viewers have high expectations for the connected TV (CTV) ad experience. They expect relevant ads, but not at the expense of their privacy. In fact, our research shows 85% of consumers globally want brands to invest in privacy-safe technologies.1
These shifts may seem overwhelming right now, but we’ve been through periods of transformative change before — from the arrival of the internet to the shift toward mobile. Now, the AI opportunity is coming at a time when marketers are faced with these changes, even as they deliver business outcomes more efficiently.
I’m excited about the possibilities ahead. Once again, we have a new opportunity to make meaningful connections with audiences. We can challenge the status quo when it comes to streaming ads, and explore new ways to boost efficiency and ROI. And it all starts with a unified approach to video buying.
Unify your media to keep up with your audience
Here’s one viewer behavior we couldn’t have predicted five years ago: the popularity of short-form content on TVs. Even though these videos are intended for a vertical format, YouTube Shorts watch time on connected TVs grew more than 75% from January to September in 2023.2
As an industry, it’s time to come together and forge a new path forward.
This speaks to just how fluid viewing habits have become. And when your audience jumps from their phones to their laptops to their CTVs, connecting with them at the right moment can feel like a guessing game.
As an industry, it’s time to come together and forge a new path forward. We can bring a renewed focus on the North Star that drives everything we do: connecting with viewers, wherever they are.
That’s why a unified approach to video buying matters. It’s crucial to stay ahead of today’s viewer habits and technology shifts while preparing your business for what’s next. And at Google, we’ve been partnering with you to build a better streaming ecosystem for viewers, publishers, and advertisers.
Connect with your audience across all the content they love
Audiences are watching more types of shows, creators, and content than ever before, so bringing together as much of that media in one place is vital.
That’s why Display & Video 360 (DV360), Google’s demand-side platform, gives advertisers access to worlds of creator-driven content on YouTube as well as top publishers like Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Even as viewers’ habits become more fragmented, it’s possible to reach them efficiently with a consolidated media approach. And today, Display & Video 360 can reach 92% of all CTV-viewing households in the U.S.3
Power your performance with more control over ad exposure
Viewers tell us time and time again that they’re turned off by repetitive ads. A GWI and WARC study found that 52% of consumers say seeing too many ads hurt their perception of a brand. Managing your ads in one place can help, and by using AI, you can more precisely adapt your strategy to your audience’s viewing habits. That way, your ads will reach the right people at the right time. So far, we’ve seen Google AI lead to less waste, and better cost savings and return on ad spend.
A recent Nielsen study found that by consolidating video campaigns with Google’s Display & Video 360, advertisers achieved a 120% higher return on ad spend compared to buying online video ads without centrally managing frequency.4
Many businesses are already discovering this firsthand. Take Danone: The food and beverage company consolidated its streaming media with Google and achieved 20% cost savings in 2022, which it reinvested into working media to increase unique reach. These are impressions that would have been wasted without frequency management. Not only that, but the brand also saw up to 50% increases in effectiveness.
Deliver both relevant and privacy-preserving ads
Repetitive ads aren’t the only kind that rankle viewers (and marketers). Irrelevant ads hurt your audience’s experience and drain your budget. At the same time, our industry shouldn’t compromise customer privacy for the sake of personalization. In the CTV space, we have an incredible opportunity to build the future of privacy-safe streaming advertising. It starts by leveraging a signal that we know is durable: first-party data.
With that in mind, Display & Video 360 has implemented Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation (PAIR). PAIR is a protocol that allows you to connect your first-party data with a publisher’s first-party data, in order to engage with your highest-value customers while they stream what they love.
We’re already seeing momentum across the industry, with publishers like Disney and NBCUniversal integrating PAIR. Brands like grocery retailer Albertsons are also partnering with Google to begin integrating PAIR.
“We are excited to unlock and scale the power of our first-party data via PAIR, and work together to make privacy-forward advertising the new normal — including on connected TVs,” Kristi Argyilan, SVP of retail media at Albertsons Media Collective, said. “With this partnership, brands can expect improved ad personalization and campaign transparency as Albertsons Media Collective collaborates with publishers in a secure, privacy-focused way.”
And soon, more advertisers will be able to join them. Google is partnering with the IAB Tech Lab to open-source PAIR so that other ad tech companies — and the industry as a whole — can adopt privacy-forward solutions that benefit everyone.
Collaboration is how transformation happens, and by working together, we can all thrive in this new era. When you unify your media with Google as your partner, you can keep up with how today’s viewers are watching and continue to fuel business growth and ROI, all while meeting your audience’s high expectations for relevance and privacy.
