Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far Toward CTV?
Marketers have spent the last decade shifting ad dollars from traditional TV to Connected TV (CTV), chasing precision targeting, real-time reporting, and cost efficiency. Yet the pendulum may have swung too far. Behind dashboards and targeting promises, CTV still operates through opaque supply chains and questionable measurement. It is time to consider rebalancing strategies around trust and transparency — not hype.
The rise of streaming is undeniable. Audiences have moved to connected platforms, and CTV now accounts for more than one-third of total U.S. TV ad spend. But alongside innovation has come inefficiency and risk. According to Pixalate, nearly one in five CTV impressions in mid-2024 were invalid, costing advertisers more than $1 billion per quarter. Even legitimate campaigns suffer from poor visibility — only 30% of marketers report full transparency into where their CTV ads appear.
Compounding these challenges are identity and measurement issues. Truthset found that IP-based identifiers often misattribute households due to reassigned addresses and device switching, inflating reach and distorting frequency. The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) echoed the concern, warning that proxy identifiers like IPs lead to “inaccurate reach, low frequency control, and compromised measurement.”
Add it up, and the illusion of precision is costing brands. Once inefficiencies like invalid traffic and duplication are factored in, a $25 CTV CPM can effectively cost three times that. DoubleVerify has found that ads are still running while screens are off — ad dollars being spent to reach no one. These challenges do not apply to every CTV publisher or platform and many are investing heavily in transparency and validation.
In contrast, traditional television — often dismissed as outdated — still offers stronger accountability. Spots are negotiated directly, logged transparently, measured independently, and measurement while challenged is at least often scrutinized by organizations like the Media Rating Council. When a commercial airs, it is traceable to a network, a program, and independent measurement of the audience estimate. Where CTV data flows are opaque, linear TV’s transparency is a strength, not a relic or weakness.
The point is not that CTV does not work — it is that it does not always work as cleanly as it is sold. Marketers can no longer afford to conflate targeting with transparency. Marketers should not abandon CTV, but they should rebalance strategies:
- Re-Establish Television’s Anchor Role. Treat linear as the baseline for reach and brand safety, complementing it with data-driven CTV extensions.
- Execute Linear like Digital. Step back from legacy practices and modernize to pay for delivery, use data to inform the plan, and negotiate pricing – not the audience estimates.
- Evaluate True Effectiveness, Not Just CPMs. Adjust ROI/ROAS models for invalid traffic, frequency duplication, and identifier churn.
- Demand Transparency. Require app-level disclosure, IVT auditing, and verified delivery for all CTV buys.
- Hold Every Channel to the Same Standard. Whether linear, streaming, or digital, accountability and auditability should be non-negotiable.
The smartest marketers harmonize the trust and reach of television with the addressability and agility of CTV. The future of reaching an audience is across both linear and connected, but only one side is currently backed by decades of transparency. Now is the time to re-evaluate the channels you can see clearly and trust over the newest or cheapest channels.
[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from Ampersand. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]
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