• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, August 2, 2022

Last year, digital measurement and analytics platform DoubleVerify (DV) generated industry headlines when it reported that one in four top connected TV (CTV) environments continue to play content and record ad impressions after the TV is turned off (“TV off”). 

Now DV — which promotes its solutions for ensuring that campaigns deploy only to CTVs that are certified to display ads only when the TV screen is on and ads are 100% displayed (“fully on-screen”) — has conducted an A/B test to gauge the effects on fraud rates and other ad performance metrics.

The two campaigns were identical except that one (Campaign A) was uncontrolled for the TV-off factor, while the other (Campaign B) targeted only fully on-screen CTV environments.

The analysis found that the Fraud/Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT) rate was 83% lower for the fully-on screen campaign, according to DV.

It also found that several engagement measures were higher in the campaign targeting fully on-screen environments.

The Increased Video Completion Rate was 18% higher (96%, versus 81% in the uncontrolled Campaign A environment).

The Authentic Ad Rate, which tracks ads served to real people in a brand-suitable environment and the correct geo, was 5% higher (99% versus 94%).

What DV dubs its “Overall Authentic, Fully On-Screen Completion Rate” — a proxy for CTV ad exposure and a key driver of user attention — was 95% for the fully on-screen campaign. In contrast, an “insignificant” number of such impressions were identified in the uncontrolled campaign environment.

Overall, DV found that improving ad exposure correlates with increased brand awareness and favorability.

The TV-off phenomenon occurs because CTV environments do not support the viewability measure that advertisers normally rely on for digital video, Video Player-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID).

As CTV attracts a growing share of ad dollars — and commands some of digital advertising’s highest CPMs — the need to understand its performance and measurability “is essential to ensuring spend is effectively delivered,” says DV CEO Mark Zagorski. “Targeting environments certified to display ads only when the TV screen is on and where the ad is 100% displayed helps to reduce fraud’s impact and improve campaign ROI.”