At Croud, we’re constantly monitoring the digital advertising ecosystem, and if one thing is clear, it’s that traditional viewing habits are undergoing a massive shift. The days of everyone huddling around a linear TV broadcast are fading, replaced by a world where TV means internet connected apps, smart screens, and gaming consoles.
With traditional TV viewership on the decline and CTV, users in the US alone are projected to jump from 111 million in 2022 to 121 million by 2027. The question isn't whether you should invest in CTV, but how.
Why CTV is taking centre stage
If it feels like CTV is suddenly everywhere in the programmatic conversation, that’s because the tech is finally catching up to the consumer. We’ve seen a flurry of updates within the Google Marketing Platform (GMP) space recently that have turned CTV from a nice to have into a primary performance channel.
At Croud, we are particularly excited about the key developments driving this momentum, three specific shifts that have caught our attention:
- The premium content gates opening: It’s easier than ever to get your brand onto the biggest platforms. We can now access Netflix Ads directly through CM360 and DV360, opening up a massive ecosystem of engaged viewers.
- Live Sports Access in the US: DV360 has become one of the first DSPs to offer biddable deals for Disney’s live sports and entertainment. This enables real-time bidding on those peak, high emotion viewing moments.
- YouTube becoming the "New TV": DV360 remains the only demand-side platform (DSP) providing access to YouTube CTV inventory. As YouTube solidifies its position as the "new television," this access is critical for any comprehensive strategy.
The GMP Advantage: Why embrace CTV now?
CTV offers a unique blend of two worlds: the immersive "lean-back" experience of traditional TV, paired with the precision and data-driven capabilities of digital programmatic buying. We often see that viewers are significantly more focused in this environment, leading to viewability and completion rates hitting up to 96% on certain platforms.
However, the primary advantage of leveraging the GMP for CTV is media unification. DV360 empowers advertisers to manage display, video, audio, and TV within a single interface. This enables overarching frequency management, preventing the common pitfall of over-exposing users across both YouTube and programmatic inventory. Furthermore, tools like the Cross-Media Reach report allow marketers to compare the unique reach of digital campaigns directly alongside linear TV, identifying shared and exclusive audiences to maximise budget efficiency.
How to make the most of CTV within DV360 & CM360
To truly master CTV in the GMP space, we recommend focusing on these technical and strategic best practices:
Seamless technical integration: The true power of the GMP is unlocked by linking CM360 and DV360. This establishes a one-to-one relationship that automates the synchronisation of Floodlight activities and audience lists via an Application Programming Interface (API). By utilising tagless trafficking, placements created in CM360 automatically connect to DV360 as creatives within 24 to 48 hours—significantly reducing human error and speeding up launch timelines.
High-fidelity creative standards: Because CTV ads appear on large, high-definition screens, creative quality is non-negotiable. Advertisers must provide a high-quality raw source file to ensure the best resolution for 4K and UHD environments. Specifically, creatives should include at least one MP4 asset with a bitrate of 15 Mbps or higher.
Mastering the message with ABCDs: Once the technical specs are covered, your creative actually needs to perform. According to a Google study, applying the ABCD framework can boost short-term sales likelihood by up to 30%, but what are they?
- Attention: Hook viewers instantly by starting right in the middle of the action.
- Branding: Show your logo or product within the first five seconds and make sure to mention it out loud.
- Connection: Keep the message focused and make them feel something through relatable, human-centric storytelling.
- Direction: Tell them exactly what to do next with a clear, unambiguous Call to Action using both on-screen text and voiceover.
Scaling best practices with Croud’s CreativeCI: How do you guarantee your assets actually hit those ABCD marks before you spend budget on them? That is where our proprietary Creative Intelligence (CreativeCI) tool comes in. Accessible to our internal teams across Croud, CreativeCI analyses video, image, and GIF assets to provide platform-specific insights. By scoring creatives across key modules, it streamlines our review process and immediately highlights areas for improvement. This ensures every asset we run adheres to best-practice standards and is primed for peak performance.
Privacy-first targeting with PAIR: As the industry moves away from third-party cookies, we encourage users to leverage Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation (PAIR). Unique to DV360, PAIR provides a secure, encrypted way to match your first-party data with top publishers like Disney and NBC Universal without sharing PII. This allows for durable, high-performing targeting.
Looking ahead
CTV isn’t a silver bullet, and it won’t replace every other video channel. But it has become a central part of how audiences consume content, and that makes it impossible to ignore.
When planned thoughtfully, CTV offers something genuinely valuable: the emotional impact of television, paired with the accountability of digital media. The challenge for advertisers isn’t access — it’s joining the dots.
As viewing habits continue to shift, brands that treat CTV as part of a unified video strategy, rather than a standalone tactic, will be best placed to make the most of the biggest screen in the house.
Partnering with Croud for a Future-Ready Strategy
As a GMP reseller, Croud is here to help you navigate these complex workflows and ensure your brand makes a lasting impact on the biggest screen in the house. By combining the massive reach of traditional TV with the granular measurement of digital, CTV in DV360 and CM360 is the ultimate tool for modern brand storytelling.
Ready to transform your CTV strategy? Get in touch with Croud today to discuss how we can put these Google innovations to work for your brand
