Verizon Media launches OTT Smart Auction

Verizon Media last week launched OTT Smart Auction, a server-to-server container integration to display video programmatic ads and reserved demand on OTT environments. OTT publishers are able to run programmatic demand in competition with reserved demand, in a real-time, and unified auction, in publisher’s ad server.

OTT Smart Auction is the first solution to be integrated with Verizon Media Platform’s Smartplay Prebid solution. Smartplay Prebid is a server-side integration that exposes inventory directly to OTT Smart Auction and utilizes Smartplay’s server-side ad insertion (SSAI) capability to provide a transition between content and ads on any device or platform.

Verizon Media is responding to the growth of OTT. According to Verizon, the process for monetizing OTT inventory is still dated, with an overreliance on reserved sales and inefficient ad-serving waterfalls that deliver repetitive ads and poor user experience.

Verizon Media says OTT Smart Auction was designed for OTT publishers that deliver long-form on-demand or live streaming content through connected TV (CTV) or mobile apps, including broadcasters, cable networks, and digital multichannel video programming distributors (DMVPDs).

OTT Smart Auction passes the ID information directly to the Verizon Media demand-side platform (DSP), maximizing user match rates and enabling Verizon Media advertisers to find their audience on inventory monetized through Verizon Media’s supply-side platform (SSP).

"As an end-to-end, full-stack technology partner, we can uniquely support publishers and advertisers in unlocking the full value of premium long-form and on-demand OTT video,” said Iván Markman, Chief Business Officer, Verizon Media. “We’ve brought together all the pieces you need, whether you’re a publisher or an advertiser, in one integrated platform, ensuring seller and buyer optimization and efficiency.”