The TV Is Off But The Ads Are On: Solving CTV’s Viewability Problem

Last week, DoubleVerify released a study showing that many CTV ads are being served up to TVs that have been turned off. This was disconcerting (to say the least) to an industry that is rapidly shifting dollars to CTV, based in no small part on the promise that CTV is immune from viewability issues. We sat down with Adam Helfgott, CEO at MadHive, to get a deeper dive on the issue. 

ALAN WOLK (AW): So let me get this straight: according to a new study from DoubleVerify, if I turn the TV off and go to sleep, CTV ads will keep getting sent to my TV anyway?

Adam Helfgott (AH): Not all the time, but they did find that one in four CTV ads may be playing to a TV set that is turned off, which is setting off alarm bells in the industry. This has been a problem with linear TV— set top boxes often stay on when the TV is turned off. It’s encouraging to see the industry talking frankly about these issues now.

AW: So what is the solution? Is there an easy fix for this?

AH: From a technical perspective, it is best practice for all streaming apps to be developed with a feature to shut off once an HDMI connection is broken. This means they will automatically stop streaming content and therefore stop serving ads once a user turns off the TV and disables the internet connection.

That is key, especially given that so much CTV inventory is sold programmatically. But clearly it may not be enough. That’s why a number of companies are putting security measures in place to prevent this from happening.

AW: How do these security solutions work?

AH: I can talk to MadHive’s solution. We measure the  “session duration” for each device, and we stop sending our advertisers’ ads to a device that has been playing for an unusually long period of time (for example, if we detect that someone has likely stepped away from the TV, or may be ad-fatigued by this point in their viewing).

AW: Do you see that sort of solution becoming the default?

AH: I hope not. It’s a matter of app providers putting in protections like the one we talked about where they stop serving ads once the HDMI connection is off. That will happen, but given how many new apps there are and how many different devices they are running on, it’s a good idea to have a comprehensive optimization and antifraud solution like MadHive.

We also use advanced technologies like cryptography and AI to detect and avoid suspicious, or just merely low-converting traffic.

Additionally, our partnership with Double Verify allows us to cross-check our campaign outcomes, providing a final check to ensure ad viewability. 

Another promising solution is modernizing panel data, which will give advertisers the ability to detect user behavior signals that indicate when a viewer may have stepped away from the screen. As these partnerships with MadHive scale, we're able to create and use increasingly accurate models that apply to TV viewers at large.

At a time when advertisers are struggling to understand the impact of their omnichannel campaigns, this means we can provide the most accurate campaign planning and performance insights across channels, devices, and individuals.

AW: What is “viewability” and why is it so important?

AH: Viewabilty has been one of the big issues with digital display advertising. Too often the ad was served but it was at the bottom of the screen where the user couldn’t see it, but the client was charged anyway.

It’s assumed that CTV ads don’t have that issue because they are full screen on the TV. But if they’re showing up after the TV is turned off, then that’s an even bigger problem than being at the bottom of the screen and it’s why brands and agencies need to take steps to prevent it.