Gracenote introduces Contextual CTV Ad Targeting with industry partnerships

Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, last week announced an advancement in connected TV (CTV) advertising. The company has partnered with major industry players to introduce new contextual categories powered by program-level metadata, aiming to optimize ad targeting and provide greater transparency in the CTV advertising ecosystem. This development comes at a time when CTV advertising is experiencing rapid growth and advertisers are seeking more precise targeting capabilities.

According to the announcement, Gracenote has teamed up with Peer39, a leading provider of contextual suitability and quality solutions, to make these new contextual CTV categories available on partner demand-side platform (DSP) platforms. This collaboration will enable programmatic CTV ad buys for the first time using Gracenote's metadata. Additionally, Magnite, the largest independent omnichannel sell-side advertising company, has been tapped as the first supply-side platform (SSP) to support and scale these new CTV categories.

The new offering will be available for fourth-quarter campaigns with several major CTV players, including Cineverse, DIRECTV Advertising, Philo, Tastemade, and Xumo. These publishers will enhance their programming with Gracenote Contextual Video Data, which provides detailed descriptions of individual TV shows and movies. This enhancement aims to offer media buyers more visibility and transparency regarding the content against which their advertisements are displayed.

Gracenote's metadata has long been trusted by leading publishers and streamers to power innovative video experiences and advanced content discovery. With this announcement, the company is making its program genres, ratings, content types, and advisories available as a common taxonomy for media buyers and sellers to transact direct and programmatic CTV buys.

The introduction of these contextual categories addresses a critical need in the CTV advertising market. As CTV viewership continues to grow, advertisers are seeking more granular targeting options to ensure their messages reach the right audiences in relevant contexts. Trent Wheeler, Chief Product Officer at Gracenote, emphasized the importance of scale and transparency for CTV advertising to reach its full potential. He stated that Gracenote is uniquely positioned to become the taxonomy for the CTV marketplace by providing program-level metadata for both sellers and buyers to transact on.

One of the key advantages of Gracenote's offering is the unprecedented granularity it provides for programmatic ad buys. Publishers can use Gracenote's deep descriptive metadata to package ad inventory in ways that unlock incremental revenue for their content catalogs. For example, a sports documentary that might have previously been categorized simply as a "documentary" can now be identified as relevant to "sports enthusiasts," opening up new ad matching opportunities.

The partnership with Peer39 is particularly significant as it allows advertisers and agencies to better understand available programming and more effectively target audiences. Media buyers can use keyword targeting to match against or exclude various types of in-content metadata, including actors, directors, sports types, moods, themes, subjects, and locations. Furthermore, Gracenote's program ratings and parental advisory categories give brands the confidence to lift channel blocks while avoiding unsuitable content.

Mario Diez, CEO of Peer39, highlighted the importance of standardized contextual data signals in improving results for advertisers and driving more investment for publishers. He expressed hope that the collaboration with Gracenote will create a strong ecosystem where advertisers, publishers, and consumers all benefit from content supported through contextually relevant advertising.

The involvement of Magnite as the first SSP to support these new CTV categories is also noteworthy. Kristen Williams, SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Magnite, expressed enthusiasm about working with Gracenote to scale the use of standardized contextual categories. She mentioned plans to experiment with different packages based on contextual use cases and discuss additional features, including more robust data controls for media owners.

Several industry players have expressed support for this initiative. Chris Brombach, SVP of Media and Strategy at Cannella Media, stated that the agency is excited to leverage Gracenote's contextual program metadata, expressing confidence that it will allow them to build on successful CTV campaign strategies and drive increased profitability for clients.

Matt Jamison, AVP and Head of Ad Sales Partnerships at DIRECTV Advertising, emphasized their commitment to providing advertisers with tools to reach audiences most effectively. He noted that integrating Gracenote's content metadata will offer brands more precision in content targeting and greater transparency.

The introduction of these new contextual categories comes at a crucial time for the CTV advertising industry. As traditional linear TV viewership continues to decline, advertisers are increasingly shifting budgets to CTV platforms. However, the CTV ecosystem has faced challenges related to fragmentation, measurement, and targeting precision. Gracenote's initiative aims to address these issues by providing a standardized taxonomy that both buyers and sellers can use to transact CTV advertising.

The technical implementation of this system involves integrating Gracenote's metadata with existing ad tech infrastructure. DSPs, SSPs, and publishers leveraging or planning to leverage the new Gracenote categories through Peer39 include major players such as Basis, Cadent, DeepIntent, Illumin, Index Exchange, Infillion, Magnite, Microsoft, Plex, Viant, and Yahoo. This wide adoption suggests that the industry sees significant potential in this approach to contextual targeting.

As the CTV advertising landscape continues to evolve, initiatives like this one from Gracenote and its partners will play a crucial role in shaping the future of television advertising. By providing more granular and standardized contextual data, these developments have the potential to improve ad relevance, enhance viewer experience, and increase the effectiveness of CTV advertising campaigns.

In conclusion, Gracenote's introduction of new contextual categories for CTV advertising, in partnership with major industry players, represents a significant step forward in the maturation of the CTV advertising ecosystem. As advertisers and publishers alike seek more precise targeting and greater transparency, solutions like this one are likely to become increasingly important in the digital advertising landscape.

Key facts

Announced on July 25, 2024

Partnership with Peer39 to make categories available on DSP platforms

Magnite selected as first SSP to support and scale the new categories

Available for Q4 campaigns with Cineverse, DIRECTV Advertising, Philo, Tastemade, and Xumo

Provides program-level metadata for genre, ratings, content types, and advisories

Allows keyword targeting based on actors, directors, sports types, moods, themes, subjects, and locations

Supported by multiple DSPs, SSPs, and publishers in the ad tech ecosystem

Aims to improve targeting precision and transparency in CTV advertising

Addresses challenges of fragmentation and measurement in CTV advertising

Potential to unlock incremental revenue for content catalogs through better inventory packaging