June 5, 2019 – New York, NY –  Over half of the US population, 182 million people, used a Connected Television (CTV) in 2018. The CTV space is growing at a rapid pace, driven in no small part by devices like Roku, Apple TV and Amazon’s FireTV (eMarketer). This shift in consumer behavior has made high quality streamed content on Connected TVs a premier choice for brands seeking to advertise to their respective audiences. Today, Integral Ad Science (IAS) announced the first-ever CTV verification solution that directly integrates with video publishers to validate that video ads are played to completion, fraud-free, on CTVs. During this pilot, IAS integrated with eight leading US video publishers including CBS Interactive and NBCUniversal.

Advertisers in the US are expected to spend up to $36 billion on digital video this year alone. In the past, such advertising investments into emerging media have been quickly accompanied by an increased effort from fraudsters looking to profit. The development of IAS’s ground-breaking OTT fraud technology now protects advertisers as they connect with audiences in CTV environments.

“IAS has a long track record of defining the verification space through innovation and I’m thrilled to announce the world’s first verification solution for Connected TV,” said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO, IAS. “The biggest advancements come when we work together as an industry and today we stand alongside eight of the world’s leading video publishers including CBS Interactive and NBCUniversal to usher-in a new era of CTV transparency.”  

“CBS Interactive believes in full transparency with our advertising partners.  With ad fraud increasing, it’s important that programmers and publishers work together with companies like IAS to facilitate trust while maintaining a quality user experience.” Jarred Wilichinsky, Senior Vice-President, Video Monetization & Operations, CBS Interactive.

“As a publisher, NBCUniversal understands the importance of safety and a high quality user experience and we look forward to joining IAS on this first of its kind verification solution,” said Mike Reidy, Senior Vice President, Digital Advertising Sales, NBCUniversal.

In addition to the CTV advancement, IAS has been on the leading edge of video measurement across the digital video ecosystem more broadly. Specifically, the verification leader has integrations with video ad servers, it introduced standardized in-app video measurement via the OM SDK, and is an active contributor to the latest versions of the VAST specification, the accepted mechanism for delivering video ads digitally. Recent enhancements to the VAST spec (4.1 onwards) have embraced OTT and mobile in-app driven changes in the video ecosystem, which are moving the industry toward unified video delivery and measurement.  

For more information on CTV or the broader suite of IAS solutions, please reach out to press@integralads.com.

Watch this video to learn more about OTT and CTV verification