Video ad serving platform SpotX has released figures illustrating explosive growth in global over-the-top (OTT) video advertising spend across its platform.
The OTT video category includes broadcast-quality inventory from TV networks, Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs) and other live, linear and video-on-demand (VOD) streaming services delivered via connected TV devices as well as desktop and mobile screens.
SpotX’s data revealed that the portion of overall ad budgets spent with OTT inventory owners increased from 8 percent in October 2016 to over 26 percent of total spend for October 2017. This equates to nearly 18X growth in advertiser dollars spent on OTT inventory owners year over year in October. As the holiday ad spend push continues, OTT is expected to account for around 30 percent of video ad spend by the end of 2017, pointing to a macro-level growth trend that shows budgets adjusting in favor of OTT streams as consumers increasingly view content across devices.
“We’ve seen DSP partners increasing their focus on OTT in response to a shift in consumption habits,” said Kelly McMahon, VP of Global Demand Operations at SpotX.
“By making addressable OTT inventory available to buyers through their platforms, they’re placing themselves ahead of the curve in terms of innovation and enabling advertisers to reach audiences across multiple screens at scale.”
Of the 65+ DSPs buying through SpotX’s platform, Adobe Advertising Cloud, dataxu, The Trade Desk, VideoAmp and ZypMedia are leading growth as the top platforms transacting on OTT inventory. Since January of this year, their collective daily spend on the category has grown by more than 675 percent.
“The key to buying across video channels, including OTT audiences, is taking a holistic view of the data that can be made available; specifically: linking consumption behavior, or what people watch, to digital activities, or what they do online, along with ad exposure data,” said Jay Prasad, Chief Strategy Officer, VideoAmp. “As a purpose-built platform for the converging linear and digital worlds, we are enabling these data assets to work in concert to deliver better scale and efficiency for advertisers.”
To further examine this trend, SpotX recently released a white paper drawing on insights from Fortune 500 brand marketers. In addition, distributors such as Sling TV were tapped to lend perspective on the audience available through OTT, both in live streaming and VOD formats.
“Streaming live TV is now mainstream behavior, opening the door for advertisers to capture today’s young, affluent, hard-to-reach consumers who aren’t subscribing to traditional cable TV,” said Adam Lowy, Head of Advertising Sales for Sling TV.
SpotX was acquired 100% by RTL Group in Octobber 2017.