Connected TV (CTV): Definition, Advertising, and Opportunities in 2025

What Is CTV? Market Figures

Connected TV refers to televisions that can connect to the internet, allowing access to streaming platforms, applications, and online services. Unlike traditional television, it provides interactive, on-demand video content.

Key Market Statistics

• Global Adoption: In 2024, 87% of U.S. households owned at least one connected TV device, a significant rise from 38% in 2012.
• Growth in Ad Spending: Advertising investments in streaming platforms saw substantial growth, with France Télévisions generating €104 million in ad revenue during the 2024 Paris Olympics. (source: Le Monde)
• Increased Streaming Consumption: In Spain, 61.9% of households used paid online platforms in the first half of 2024, reflecting a global trend towards on-demand content consumption. (Source: El PaÍs)

What Opportunities Does CTV Offer Advertisers?

Connected TV provides advertisers with a dynamic platform to engage audiences innovatively.

Key Opportunities

• Advanced Targeting: Advertisers can segment audiences based on demographic, behavioral, and contextual criteria, ensuring greater relevance for their ad messages.
• Diverse Ad Formats: Connected TV supports interactive formats such as clickable videos, interactive overlays, and gamified experiences, enhancing viewer engagement.
• Accurate Performance Measurement: CTV platforms integrate advanced analytics tools that enable cross-device tracking, allowing advertisers to monitor campaign performance and optimize in real time.
• Higher Engagement: CTV ads offer interactive and immersive formats (clickable ads, QR codes, gamified experiences) that capture user attention.

Difference Between Connected TV and OTT

OTT (Over The Top) refers to content streaming services delivered via the internet without traditional TV operators. It is essential to distinguish between the two concepts:

• CTV: The physical device (connected TV, console, dongle such as Chromecast, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, etc.).
• OTT: The online video streaming service (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, etc.).

Major OTT Players: Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube TV, Peacock.

Why Is CTV Important in App Marketing?

Connected TV is becoming a strategic channel for mobile marketing because it allows advertisers to:

• Increase app awareness with large-format ads on premium screens.
• Develop multi-channel campaigns that engage audiences across multiple screens (TV + mobile + desktop).
• Optimize user acquisition by combining TV visibility with mobile install campaigns through QR codes and interactive call-to-actions.

The Connected TV Ecosystem

• Broadcasters: TV networks offering streaming content (TF1, NBC, BBC, CBS, etc.).
• OTT Streaming Services: Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, etc.
• Devices: Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Sony), dongles (Chromecast, Roku, Fire TV Stick), gaming consoles (PlayStation, Xbox).
• DSPs and Ad Platforms: Programmatic ad-buying platforms (The Trade Desk, Google DV360, Moloco, Xandr, Smadex).
• Mediation and Attribution Partners: Platforms for tracking campaign impact (AppsFlyer, Adjust, Kochava, Nielsen, Comscore).

Advantages of CTV for Advertisers

• Large Audience: With high adoption rates, CTV reaches a diverse audience, including Millennials and Gen Z.
• Refined Targeting: First-party user data and AI ensure ads are highly relevant to consumers.
• Immersive Experience: Interactive formats (clickable videos, interactive overlays) maximize engagement.
• Improved Performance Measurement: Cross-device tracking helps understand how TV exposure influences mobile and desktop conversions.

Challenges of CTV Campaigns

• Ad Fraud: Risk of invalid impressions or fake inventory on certain platforms.
• Market Fragmentation: A variety of players and a lack of standardized formats and metrics.
• Attribution Measurement: Although tools are improving, establishing a precise correlation between TV exposure and conversions on mobile or desktop remains challenging.

How to Measure the Performance of CTV Campaigns?

• Multi-Touch Attribution: Identify how a CTV impression influences user behavior across other devices.
• Conversion Tracking: Use tracking pixels, QR codes, and post-view tracking solutions to monitor user actions.
• Key KPIs:
  • View-Through Rate (VTR): Percentage of viewers who watched the full ad.
  • Cost Per Install (CPI): Direct measurement of user acquisition.
  • Return On Ad Spend (ROAS): Evaluation of CTV campaign profitability.

Monetizing CTV

• Programmatic Advertising: Real-time ad space purchases via DSPs.
• AVOD Models (Advertising Video On Demand): Platforms funded by ads (Hulu, YouTube, Pluto TV).
• Direct Partnerships: Agreements between advertisers and broadcasters for sponsored content or product placements.

Best Practices for Maximizing Monetization

• Optimize Creatives: Adapt videos to CTV-specific formats, include a clear CTA, and test multiple versions.
• Personalize Messaging: Leverage advanced targeting to tailor ads based on audience profiles and behavior.
• Use Cross-Device Retargeting: Re-engage users who viewed a CTV ad through mobile or desktop campaigns.
• Continuously Monitor Performance: Analyze KPIs and adjust strategies based on results.
• Avoid Overexposure: Set frequency caps to prevent viewer fatigue.

Conclusion

Connected TV is emerging as a powerful tool for advertisers and App Marketing. With its precise targeting capabilities and engaged audience, it is becoming a strategic channel in any digital marketing strategy. However, mastering attribution methods and key performance indicators remains essential to maximizing its impact and justifying advertising investments.