Privacy Changes To Streaming Ads Are Coming

Finally, ott refers to "over the top" cable boxes or Roku devices that are put atop televisions. If you're a marketer, the term has a more nuanced connotation. CTV's definition "maybe a little unclear." "You may get lost in the rabbit hole of numerous acronyms," says Mary Kotara, senior programmatic media strategist at AdSwerve. Kotara did a live interview at CommerceCo by Practical Ecommerce on August 19, 2021. When using Facebook or YouTube videos as instances of CTV, the notion becomes more difficult to grasp. This is not CTV while viewing YouTube TV or Hulu on a Roku device or an iPhone. Consider the advertising on TV screens for streaming television and movie providers like Hulu or Roku. Aside from web browsers (after deleting tracking cookies) and mobile app tracking, these are the ad platforms that may be impacted by changes in IP address availability.

Internet Protocol Address

Unlike traditional (or linear) television or even cable programming, CTV allows advertisers to target viewers in ways similar to those found on big networks such as Google and Facebook. Purchase intent and geolocation are examples of such behaviours. A home device graph can be generated as part of the targeting process. An IP address and other data are used to associate each device with a certain residence. You may target consumers with CTV advertising based on what they performed on a mobile app, for example, using a device graph. It utilises behavioural targeting across all devices to offer relevant and timely advertising. The graph of home devices, on the other hand, increases attribution. Users that watch Hulu on television will not convert. They must be aware that I sent them an advertisement on connected TV, after which the consumer returned to her desktop computer or phone and purchased the service. "With the household graph, [advertisers] can paint the entire picture," Kotara said, adding that IP addresses were an important component of constructing a home graph. "Companies that link TV with cookies and device IDs use IP addresses to tie it all together," says Kotara. When changes are made to safeguard users' privacy, it is conceivable that IP addresses in CTV devices will become unavailable or unreliable. There are a lot of suggestions from privacy advocates and technology companies that would render IP address gathering practically useless. Gnatcatcher, Google's concept for IP blindness, is one of these approaches ("Global Network Address Translation Combined with Trusted and Audited CDN or HTTP-Proxy Eliminating Reidentification"). Gnatcatcher conceals the user's IP address. Google's goal with Gnatcatcher was to develop "technology that protects the general public from opaque or hidden techniques that share data about individual users and allow them to be surreptitiously watched." Using a device's IP address, it is possible to identify someone without their knowledge or agreement.

It's Going To Be A Better Future

One unexpected benefit of masking IP addresses is that it may enhance CTV attribution and target over time. Kotara anticipates "smarter approaches" for targeting and measuring CTV. Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are not the most reliable sources of data. They are not always correct. Aside from privacy problems, there are drawbacks," Kotara stated. According to Kotara, the elimination of tracking cookies will provide advertisers with the opportunity to improve, just as the elimination of IP addresses would do for marketers. Many companies are already working on privacy-friendly audience targeting and conversion attribution approaches. Although deadlines have been established for the end of third-party cookie collection in each major browser, no single deadline has been set for IP address masking. CTV advertisers, on the other hand, understand that IP addresses can't be reused endlessly.