As Investments Increase, DoubleVerify Boosts CTV Transparency for Advertisers, Standardizing CTV App Identifiers Across Platforms

NEW YORK, NY (June 10, 2020) – DoubleVerify (“DV”), a leading software platform for digital media measurement, data and analytics, today announced the launch of a new transparency and reporting solution for CTV inventory. The new solution is designed to give CTV buyers full transparency and accurate data on where their campaigns are running across all major CTV devices.

CTV viewership has grown dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting streaming video consumption by nearly 40%.* With the shift, advertisers are following audiences with their media investment. According to the IAB, more than a third (35%) of advertisers have adjusted their in-market tactics as a result of the virus, with 35% of that group increasing CTV investments, specifically.** As advertisers continue to navigate COVID-19, shifting budgets to CTV inventory and platforms, the need to understand performance and measurability across the channel is now more important than ever.

Unfortunately, a lack of standardized CTV app identifiers has limited transparency. Today, manufacturers, app developers and SSPs all generate their own CTV app IDs. As a result, one CTV app can have five or more different IDs. With no standard ID to transact on or measure against, CTV advertisers have limited visibility into where their ads run. This affects targeting, brand safety, fraud prevention, and measurement. In response, IAB recently debuted guidelines to standardize naming conventions across CTV platforms. However, adoption takes time. An analysis of DoubleVerify’s DSP partners finds that the IAB’s naming adoption rate currently sits at just 23%.

DV’s new solution is designed to bring transparency to CTV campaigns, mapping app names across platforms and devices, and normalizing them per IAB standards. At launch, more than 6,000 apps have been mapped across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Xbox, PlayStation, LG TV, and generic smart TVs.

“DV’s mission is to give advertisers clarity and confidence in their digital investment, regardless of platform, channel or format,” said Matt McLaughlin, COO of DoubleVerify. “With our new solution, CTV advertisers can get consistent evaluation standards, making it easier to track campaign quality and performance.”

“Advertisers demand clarity into where their ads are running – across any media environment,” said Joe Barone, Managing Partner Brand Safety Americas for GroupM. “We applaud the IAB’s initiative in issuing guidelines to standardize CTV app ID naming conventions, and support DV in its efforts to accelerate buyer transparency, while supply-side adoption of these conventions continues to grow.”

With investments growing, DV is taking a leadership role in solving the issues advertisers face on emerging CTV platforms. Earlier this year, DV announced its CTV Certification Program, the industry’s first CTV Targeting Certification for programmatic platforms, designed to protect advertisers from fraud and invalid traffic in the CTV space. In tandem, DV released The ABCs of CTV  guide to educate advertisers on best practices around CTV media quality measurement and performance.

“CTV investments were always on the rise, but the industry is seeing accelerated growth during the pandemic,” said Dan Slivjanovski, CMO, DoubleVerify. “As brands shift spend, the need to understand campaign placement, quality and performance is at an all-time high. We’re pleased to bring this solution to CTV advertisers globally.”

About DoubleVerify

DoubleVerify is a leading software platform for digital media measurement, data and analytics. DV’s mission is to be the definitive source of transparency and data-driven insights into the quality and effectiveness of digital advertising for the world’s largest brands, publishers and digital ad platforms. DV’s technology platform provides advertisers with consistent and unbiased data and analytics that can be used to optimize the quality and return on digital ad investments. Since 2008, DV has helped hundreds of Fortune 500 companies gain the most from their media spend by delivering best in class solutions across the digital advertising ecosystem, helping to build a better industry. Learn more at www.doubleverify.com.

*Nielsen, 2020
**IAB, Coronavirus Ad Spend Impact: Buy-side, 2020