Connected TV Advertising

Marketers are selling themselves short if they rely on pixel attribution alone for CTV. For one recent CTV campaign, we worked with our client’s CRM analytics partner, Fueled, to match users who were served ad impressions against those that had converted on the website. The point was to see how many purchases could be tied back to CTV impressions, so as to not solely rely on pixel based DSP reporting as the source of truth. Over the course of 30 days, the campaign recorded 2,482 attributed unique hompepage visitors via pixel tracking, but 8,777 verified visitors through CRM analysis...nearly a 4x difference! At checkout completion, pixels logged 109 conversions, while CRM-verified data identified 1,252 actual purchasers. That means over 90% of real sales were never credited in pixel-based attribution! Why the gap? Because CTV introduces a fundamental shift in how attribution works. People see an ad on a connected TV but complete their purchase later on a different device, their phone, tablet, or laptop. Pixels were originally designed to measure direct, same-device activity against which both the impression and conversion occurred. While most platforms now use cross-device graphs to bridge that gap, those graphs rely on probabilistic modeling and partial identifiers. Their accuracy is often overstated, and they can’t compensate for the scale of signal loss we’re seeing today. Compounding this are modern privacy dynamics: browsers like Brave and Firefox block tracking scripts, iOS strips campaign parameters off URLs, and many users exit before a “thank you” page fires a conversion event. Each of these weakens the connection between ad exposure and the eventual sale. As James Borow recently said "pixels are for targeting, not measurement". That’s why Conversion APIs (CAPIs) have become critical. Instead of depending on browser-side events, CAPIs send verified conversion data directly from the advertiser’s server to the media platform’s server, bypassing browsers entirely. Each transaction is transmitted with hashed identifiers, email, phone, or customer ID, enabling privacy-safe reconciliation between ad impressions and downstream purchases. Platforms like Meta, Shopify, Google, and The Trade Desk now treat CAPIs as the backbone of modern attribution. For CTV in particular, where conversions don’t happen on the same device, server-to-server data exchange restores visibility and gives marketers a true view of how their media performs across screens. Big thanks to Fueled and founder Sean Larkin for partnering with us on this initiative, and exciting to see Fueled’s new CAPI integration with The Trade Desk rolling out this week.

CTV is changing the advertising game — and DTC brands are leading the charge. 🧠 The shift to CTV is massive for eCommerce brands. Why? Because they can now run TV ads like a social campaign — merging the best of both worlds: 📺 The reach and credibility of traditional TV – over 190M unique users and 120M US households, more than any single social platform. 🎯 The precision targeting of digital – by demographics, interests, behaviors, location and more. 📊 Performance you can measure – real-time tracking, detailed reporting, and results you can actually act on. 🧪 The agility to test, learn, and scale – experiment with creatives and messaging on the fly, then double down on what drives results. ⚡️ The low barrier to entry – campaigns start at just $50/day, no big production needed (you can repurpose existing assets), and setup is quick and easy. CTV isn’t the future — it’s already here. The brands leaning in today are seeing up to 3x higher ROAS, and they’ll be the ones winning attention tomorrow.

LinkedIn just made a move that should have every B2B marketer paying attention. They've partnered with The Trade Desk as their first DSP partner for connected TV ads. LinkedIn's audience data. Layered into CTV buys. Through the biggest independent DSP on the planet. That means a cloud computing company can now serve streaming TV ads only to IT decision makers. A SaaS brand can target CMOs while they're watching Netflix with the sound on and attention up. Then retarget those same people in their LinkedIn feed the next morning. This is a full funnel B2B done properly. And the timing is fascinating. The Trade Desk is under pressure, stock down 50% in a year. The fallout from the Publicis audit is still making noise. Amazon circling. Yet LinkedIn chose them as partner number one. That tells you something about where the industry sees TTD's infrastructure sitting, regardless of the headlines. Here's what most people will miss, though. This isn't just about CTV. It's about B2B brands finally accepting that brand awareness matters. That in an LLM first world where buyers are discovering solutions through AI before they ever hit your website, you need to be memorable before you're searchable. TV does that. Programmatic CTV with LinkedIn's professional graph underneath it does that at scale. US CTV ad spend is forecast to hit $37 billion this year. B2B has barely scratched the surface of that number. The brands that move now won't just be early. They'll be the ones who own the conversation while everyone else is still debating whether TV is a "B2B channel." It is. LinkedIn just made it official. If you could precisely target one job title with a CTV campaign for your brand tomorrow, would you choose the decision-maker or the budget holder? #ConnectedTV #B2BMarketing #TheTradeDesk

The Amazon Ads + Disney partnership is a major shift. Here’s why it matters for brands: Let’s say you just launched a plant-based surface cleaner. You want to reach eco-conscious households and drive real online sales, not just views. Before this partnership: You could advertise on Disney+ or Hulu, targeting broad segments like “household decision-makers.” But you’d have no insight into shopper behavior, and no way to link ad exposure to product sales on Amazon. Now, with this partnership: 1. Smarter Audience Targeting Use Amazon DSP to reach: - Viewers streaming Disney+ or Hulu content related to home, family, or wellness AND - Shoppers who recently browsed or bought eco-friendly cleaning products on Amazon This overlap is matched via AWS Clean Rooms and Disney Compass, all privacy-safe. 2. Premium Ad Delivery, Contextually Placed Your ads appear in: - Hulu’s “Home & Living” or “Family” content - Disney+ originals favored by sustainability-minded viewers - ESPN content adjacent to fitness and wellness You control sequencing, frequency, and cross-device delivery. 3. Full-Funnel Measurement Track: - Searches, page views, carts, and purchases - New-to-brand vs. repeat buyers - Conversions within a defined attribution window The result: You can connect CTV impressions to actual outcomes. You’re engaging the right audience and measuring real results.

“𝗖𝗧𝗩 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗩.”  Heard this often? Let's look at a few facts before conculding. A 𝗖𝗧𝗩 𝗖𝗣𝗠 is being benchmarked against a 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗩 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁‐𝗽𝗲𝗿‐𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴‐𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁.  𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲‐𝗳𝗼𝗿‐𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲.  You’re comparing:   • A verified impression where the ad actually played on a real screen     vs   • A sample‑based estimate, projected from ~60,000 homes to 1.4B people  That’s not a cost issue.  𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲.  And the reality has shifted:   • India now has 𝟭𝟮𝟵𝗠 𝗖𝗧𝗩 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 (+𝟴𝟳% 𝗬𝗼𝗬)   • Nearly half of 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗧𝗩 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹   • 𝟯𝟭𝟯𝗠 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 are digital‑only, unreachable via linear TV   • CTV delivers 𝟵𝟬%+ 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀  This isn’t a premium niche anymore.  CTV in India is 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 - 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.  My view: if you’re judging CTV purely on CPM, you’re optimising for familiarity, not effectiveness.  The real question isn’t “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘊𝘛𝘝 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦?”  It’s “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘛𝘝 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵?”  As audiences fragment, the winning brands are moving:   • From TRPs to verified impressions   • From assumed reach to real outcomes  That’s where 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 The Trade Desk fundamentally change how TV works. Now you can 𝗰𝗮𝗽 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 that used to only offer a TRP, the conversation about TV advertising changes fundamentally. CTV isn’t emerging anymore.  𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘂𝗽.  #CTV #ConnectedTV #MediaMeasurement #Programmatic #OpenInternet #IndiaMarketing  Sources: Ormax Media (2025); Kantar Media Compass (2025); Storyboard18 industry benchmarks (2024); BARC India methodology; FICCI–EY M&E Report (2024); DoubleVerify India Advertiser Study (2025); WPP Media / BestMediaInfo projections (2026)   

One the most underrated weapons in marketing right now: CTV. Connected TV isn’t just “TV but digital.” It’s TV that performs. Think about it: 📺 You get the reach, storytelling, and emotional punch of premium video. 📊 You get targeting, real-time optimization, and measurable outcomes like digital. 🚶♀️ And when paired with foot traffic attribution, you get what every marketer wants: real-world impact. CTV drives people off the couch and into the store. And now? We can prove it. No more fuzzy metrics. No more relying on impressions and hope. You can launch a CTV campaign and know in a week if it’s driving visits to your locations. That’s game-changing. Because marketing shouldn’t just make noise—it should move people. Literally. If your CTV strategy isn’t tied to real-world outcomes, you’re only seeing half the picture. And in this market, half a picture isn’t good enough. Let’s stop treating TV like a branding-only play. It’s a brand AND performance channel now—with receipts. #CTV #PerformanceMarketing #FootTraffic #AttributionMatters #CMO #GroundTruth #LocationMarketing #MarketingThatMovesPeople

I've been in more calls than I can count with people inside the media industry. And I'm still surprised by how many don't know what CTV actually is. 🤔 So let me break it down simply: 📺 CTV = Connected TV. It's any television that connects to the internet and streams content. Think Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, smart TVs. The apps and channels you watch on those screens — that's CTV. Within CTV, there's a model called FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV). Free content for viewers. Revenue generated through ads. Think Pluto TV, Tubi, The Roku Channel. Now why does this matter? 👉 For brands: You can run targeted TV ads without the $500K minimums of traditional broadcast. Reach real audiences, on the biggest screen in the house, with actual data behind it. 👉 For agencies: Your clients are asking about it. If you can't speak to it, someone else will. 👉 For content creators: You can distribute your content on TV — not YouTube, not Instagram. Television. And monetize it through ad revenue at scale. 👉 For founders: There's infrastructure being built right now. Distribution deals, content partnerships, ad tech layers. The space is still early enough that the right move can position you for years. 📈 We're in a moment where cord-cutting isn't a trend anymore — it's the default. The audience had already moved. The ad dollars are following. The question is whether you're paying attention. I've been building actively in the CTV and FAST space for a while now — working on distribution, content strategy, and the infrastructure that makes this all move. If you're a brand, agency, creator, or founder trying to figure out where you fit in this shift, feel free to reach out. Happy to point you in the right direction. 🙌

Most marketers max out LinkedIn not because they run out of budget, but because they run out of surface area. At Abe, we don’t just manage that surface area. We expand it. One of the most impactful ways we’ve done that is with Connected TV. Yes, you can run CTV ads directly through LinkedIn. Yes, they integrate with the rest of your campaign strategy. And no, most marketers aren’t using them correctly. The campaigns we’re running right now serve LinkedIn CTV ads in premium, pre-roll inventory across streaming platforms. Think Roku, Apple TV, Firestick. The same platforms that Fortune 100 brands use to condition brand perception. The difference? Our targeting is tighter. Our sequencing is smarter. And the results are measurable. Here's what we’re seeing with our current CTV program at Abe: - 15% reduction in blended LinkedIn CAC - 60% improvement in CTR - 200% increase in view rate relative to Sponsored Video But the numbers only matter in context. CTV works when it’s run as part of a coordinated campaign. Not as a brand play in isolation. We use CTV to open opportunities, not close them. It creates familiarity with buyers early, so that when we serve Convo Ads or Sponsored Content later, we’re not introducing the brand. We’re reinforcing it. The principles that matter most: Prioritize scalability: CTV extends reach without driving platform fatigue, giving you net-new impressions without touching frequency caps. Create interest, not annoyance: The best CTV ads respect context, aligning message and tone with the content they precede. Trust in the streaming age: Delivering your brand alongside high-quality streaming content elevates perception in ways feed-based placements cannot. THE INSIGHT: - CTV isn’t just about more impressions. It’s about reaching buyers in an environment that doesn’t feel like advertising. - Scalability on LinkedIn comes from ad unit diversity, not budget inflation. CTV lets us scale presence without recycling the same ad units to the same decision-makers. - Good CTV creative doesn’t interrupt. It belongs. If your ad feels like an intrusion, the medium isn’t the issue. Your message is. - Brand trust is contextual. When your ad runs next to Fortune 100 creative on a high-trust platform, perception shifts. - If you're using LinkedIn without CTV, you're playing within platform limits that no longer apply.

TV advertising isn't as simple as it used to be. Google's moves in the CTV space are creating new opportunities for brands willing to adapt. Take their NFL Sunday Ticket partnership. Now you can target Sunday Ticket viewers through YouTube and CTV - something you couldn't do as easily with traditional TV, especially with a small budget. Plus, you can stack that with Google's first party data (good luck threading that needle with legacy TV) For brands formulating a TV strategy, YouTube and CTV should be a significant part of the mix. The key difference? You can track exact revenue from these channels, unlike traditional TV. And with stoppable CTV ads in the mix, the customer journey gets even more direct. For agencies, there's an angle to capitalize on. Instead of just pitching to DTC brands, you can approach companies that typically advertise exclusively on TV. You're essentially adding another line item for managing their ad dollars through Google's platform. It's opening up conversations with higher caliber clients who previously wouldn't have considered digital agencies. Definitely worth exploring if you're managing serious media spend.

Walmart & VIZIO unveiled something at the IAB NewFronts. Something that will reshape how brands reach shoppers. The full integration of content-to-commerce through connected TV. You're watching a show on your VIZIO TV. You see a product featured in the content. You purchase it directly through your Walmart account, without leaving the couch. ✕ No phone. ✕ No browser. ✕ No friction. Walmart spent $2.3 billion acquiring VIZIO in 2024. At the time, people asked "why does a retailer need a TV company?" Now we know. They're building a direct pipeline from living rooms to shopping carts. The early numbers from CTV campaigns on the platform: → 65% of surveyed customers said CTV ads helped them discover new products → 44% median viewing rate on Walmart Connect CTV campaigns → L'Oreal already running branded content integrations linking TV exposure to Walmart product pages → Unified Walmart account login rolling out to all new VIZIO OS and onn TVs This is the convergence of advertising and shopping that retail brands have been waiting for. And Walmart is the only retailer that owns both sides of the equation, the TV platform AND the shopping platform. For Walmart marketplace sellers, here's why this matters: ❶ Entirely new ad surfaces. Your products can now appear during streaming content, not just in search results or on category pages. This is incremental reach. ❷ Closed-loop attribution. Walmart can measure from ad impression to actual purchase. No guessing. No modeling. Real data connecting content exposure to conversion. ❸ First-mover advantage. Most brands aren't thinking about CTV-to-commerce yet. The ones that test early will learn the playbook before the competition even knows it exists. The unified account login creates a persistent identity across devices. Walmart will know what you watched & what you bought. That targeting gets very powerful very fast. The brands that understand this shift, from search-based discovery to content-driven commerce, will be first to tap into an entirely new sales channel. The rest will wonder where the traffic came from. Image source: Digital Entertainment Group