As streaming services have become widely adopted and methods for consuming TV content have drastically changed, the terms OTT and CTV have become exceedingly popular in the advertising world. But with this growing popularity the terms have become ambiguous as players in the industry began to use them interchangeably and the lines between them became blurred. This guide is intended to provide clarity into the industry definitions, Pontiac terminology, and best practices for implementing both CTV and OTT campaigns through the Pontiac Platform.
CTV vs OTT vs Video
OTT (Over-the-Top) is TV content delivered to a device via an internet connection. OTT is defined as a delivery method and content type (premium TV content delivered via internet) and can be streamed on any device type: smart TVs or mobile devices or desktops. OTT is considered premium digital video, and it is the highest-quality format available programmatically, with completion rates as high as 90%. For example, this could be a user watching Hulu on their phone, desktop, OR on their Smart TV.
CTV (Connected TV) is a sub-set of OTT Video, where the OTT content is delivered specifically on TELEVISIONS connected to the internet. CTV is defined by the device type and includes – Device types: smart TVs, gaming consoles, and set-top boxes. An example of this would be a user watching Hulu on their TV.
Video is the creative type for all OTT and CTV. All OTT and CTV campaigns are Video, but not all Video is OTT or CTV. Online Video (OLV) can also run across other websites and apps within content that is not considered OTT and on devices that are not considered CTV. For example, a video ad in the Candy Crush app on a mobile device.
Despite the technical definitions above, it is commonly understood in the industry that CTV refers to any OTT across TVs, and ‘OTT’ is typically used to refer to other ‘non-CTV’ OTT content. For this reason and for the purposes of the Pontiac Platform, ‘CTV’ refers to OTT content that runs across connected television devices – Smart TVs, Game Consoles, and Set Top Boxes. The ‘Inventory Type’ ‘OTT’ will refer to all other OTT content that is not CTV, that being content streamed on other devices – Mobile Phones, Tablets, Desktops and Laptops.
Please see the following page for more information on CTV, OTT, and OLV best practices for setups: Best Practices
The Pontiac Intelligence DSP offers a wide variety of granular targeting tools that enable Advertisers to better reach their target Audience and subsequently maximize their ad spend. Given how different types of inventories, data, and media interact, there are some complexities as to how targeting parameters and features can be combined and layered on a Campaign and/or Line Item (Inventory, Geo, Audience Targeting). The following Strategies Guide provides insight into creating intelligent and functional targeting on your Line Items according to your media type and KPIs.
Strategies by Media Type
KPIs & Attribution
Audio
Display
OLV
OTT/CTV
CTR
X
X
X
CPC
X
X
X
Viewability
X
X
Post-Click Conversions
X
X
Post-View Conversions
X
X
CPA
X
X
IP Conversions
X
X
X
X
Foot Traffic Conversions
X
X
X
X
Video Completion Rate
X
X
Listen Through Rate
X
Device Targeting
Audio
Display
OLV
OTT/CTV
Person Computer
X
X
X
X
Mobile Phone
X
X
X
X
Tablet
X
X
X
X
Connected TV
X
X
Connected Device
X
X
Set Top Box
X
X
Inventory Targeting
Audio
Display
OLV
OTT/CTV
App List
X
X
X
X
Site List
X
X
X
Contextual AI
X
X
Deal
X
X
X
X
Audience Targeting
Audio
Display
OLV
OTT/CTV
Creative Audience
X
X
X
Device ID Targeting
X
X
Geofencing
X
X
Geoframed
X
X
Liveramp CRM Audiences
X
X
Remarketing
X
X
Third-Party Audiences
X
X
X*
Zip Code Targeting
X
X
X
X
*For OTT/CTV, it is only recommended to use audiences from the providers TruAudience (Tru Optik), Lotame and Comscore.
Strategies by Inventory Type
KPIs & Attribution
Web
Mobile-Web
Mobile In-App
OTT/CTV
Combined
CTR
X
X
X
X
CPC
X
X
X
X
Viewability
X
X
X
X
Post-Click Conversions
X
X
X
X
Post-View Conversions
X
X
X
CPA
X
X
X
X
IP Conversions
X
X
X
X
X
Foot Traffic Conversions
X
X
X
X
X
Video Completion Rate
X
X
X
X
X
Listen Through Rate
X
X
X
X
Device Targeting
Web
Mobile – Web
Mobile In-App
OTT/CTV
Combined
Person Computer
X
X
X
Mobile Phone
X
X
X
X
Tablet
X
X
X
X
Connected TV
X
X
Connected Device
X
X
Set Top Box
X
X
Inventory Targeting
Web
Mobile – Web
Mobile In-App
OTT/CTV
Combined
App List
X
X
X
Site List
X
X
X
Contextual AI
X
X
X
Deal
X
X
X
X
X
Audience Targeting
Web
Mobile – Web
Mobile In-App
OTT/CTV
Combined
Creative Audience
X
X
X
X
Device ID Targeting
X
X
X
X
Geofencing
X
X
Geoframed
X
X
Liveramp CRM Audiences
X
X
X
X
Remarketing
X
X
X
X
Third-Party Audiences
X
X
X
X*
X
Zip Code Targeting
X
X
X
X
X
*For OTT/CTV, it is only recommended to use audiences from the providers TruAudience (Tru Optik), Lotame and Comscore.
Deal Catalog
The Pontiac premium video deal catalog can be found in the ‘Inventory’ tab of the platform, under ‘Deals’. When selecting deals that best align with your campaign goals, it is recommended to review all columns in this table to ensure your creatives meet specs, approval processes are completed, and campaigns are correctly configured to drive success. You may also want to review the Deal Landscape Tool, to understand the level of transparency in data shared by each Deal. Sample logs and forecasting reports are also available for each Deal in the ‘ART’ tab.
Deal Provider: The entity with a direct relationship with Pontiac and supplies the deal ID.
Brand: The brand or publisher of the content in the deal.
Content Type: The category of content being streamed when the ad is shown. “Run of Network” (RON) means all inventory from the publisher or deal provider.
Media Type: The type of media: Streaming/CTV (TV placements), OLV (online video – in-app/web, not streaming TV), Audio, Display.
Exchange: The SSP or platform the deal provider uses to send bid requests to Pontiac.
Floor Price: The minimum bid price (CPM) required to enter the auction.
Recommended Bid: Suggested bids based on factors like inventory variation and competition.
Duration: Allowed ad unit durations; multiple durations show the percentage of requests for each.
Device Types: The devices where impressions are served, including Connected TV, Set-top box, computers, mobiles, and tablets.
Sizes: The allowed ad unit sizes; hovering over the size tool shows request percentages per size.
Livestream: The percentage of impressions that are live versus on-demand or undefined.
Auction Type:
First Price: The winning bid is the price the advertiser pays.
Second Price Plus: The advertiser pays $0.01 above the second-highest bid.
Permitted Sensitive Categories: Deals that allow sensitive content to be served.
Publisher Approval Required: Deals requiring publisher approval for each ad before launch. Submit ads for approval through the Help Center.
Notes: Any additional deal requirements, restrictions, inventory, or targeting.
Last Served Date: The most recent date that impressions were served through the deal.
Negotiated Deals
If you can’t find the deal you need in the catalog, reach out through the Help Center. The Pontiac Partnership team may be able to negotiate a deal for you. Any programmatic guaranteed deals or deals negotiated for a specific advertiser will appear under the ‘Negotiated Deals’ section in the ‘Inventory’ tab.
Deal Landscape Tool
The Deal Landscape tool provides transparent insights into the data available for targeting and reporting across the accessible Deals through the Bidder. With great inconsistencies in the information shared by each media owner across the industry, this tool can be leveraged in the research and planning process to align campaign goals and expectations with available targeting and reporting capabilities.
To measure the level of transparency seen in inventory, we are evaluating the percentage of bid requests (or impressions) that contain the following information:
Title
Series
Channel
Network
Full IP
By aggregating the data in bid requests from the Pontiac Bidder, we can provide full transparency on the level of data shared by each Deal on the platform so you know exactly what you will get out of your campaigns, no surprises!
Reports are sortable by each field, click on the name of a field to order the report from lowest to highest or vice versa. Assess the inventory available with 100% reported rates on the parameters most important to your brand or search for the publishers and deals of interest to see which information they consistently share. Optimize your campaigns towards full transparency using the transparency scores to choose deals to target.
Inventory Availability Tool
The Inventory Availability Tool is a forecasting tool that provides directional guidance in Campaign planning. If your report returns no data, reach out through the Help Center for more information on the feasibility and potential scale for the selected targeting. By leveraging historical data, delivery trends, sample log data, and Pontiac’s proprietary forecasting formula, the tool helps advertisers:
Create and refine Inventory targeting lists.
Assess the feasibility of targeting parameters.
Optimize bid strategies.
Estimate potential scale for Campaign planning.
Create an Inventory Availability Report
Switch to the ‘ART’ section using the toggle in the top right corner.
If the ‘ART’ button is unavailable, contact Pontiac Support via the Help Center.
Navigate to the ‘Inventory Availability’ tab.
Click ‘New Report’.
Enter a report name and select and end date (the start date will default to 30 days before the selected end date).
Select ‘CTV’ for a CTV forecasting report.
Note that you can also create an Origin forecasting report. See the following documentation:
Select Inventory Type: In-App or Web.
Add Targeting parameters by the follow two methods
Edit Targeting: Select parameters for forecasting.
Available targeting options for In-App include:
Deals
Exchanges
Geo (Country, Regions, DMAs)
Zip Codes
Livestream
App Lists (In-App only)
Apps (In-App only)
Device Types
Channel
Network
Publisher
Genre
Series
Title
Multi Field
Available targeting options for Web include:
Deals
Exchanges
Geo
Zip Codes
Livestream
Publisher
Site Lists
Sites
Device Types
Inventory Discovery: Due to the inconsistency in how inventory information is structured across the CTV landscape, this tool helps advertisers create well-informed targeting lists and identify variations in formatting for the desired inventory.
Search and click to add fields to targeting for the forecast report.
Associate Audience Segments
Custom Audiences
Third Party Audiences
Contextual Audiences
ART Audiences
See Boolean Logic for more details on any and all logic for targeting between groups.
Run the report and wait a couple of minutes for results to populate.
Understanding the Results
Summary Metrics
Estimated Daily Impressions
Total Impressions
Unique IFAs
Unique IPs
Chart Data
The report includes individual expandables and visualizations for:
Deals
Exchanges
Channel
Network
Publisher
Genre
Series
Titles
Apps
Device Types
Livestream
Zip Codes
Sample Requests: Provides deeper insights into impression-level parameter combinations.
For example:
If a Deal ID is selected, charts will display available Networks and Channels.
Sample logs will illustrate how specific networks grant access to certain channels within that deal.
Audience Research Tool
Locate & understand the highest value users to your brand by utilizing the traffic on your website, or a list of U.S. zip codes, to create detailed insight reports, and leverage look-a-like modeling to find new targets that share key characteristics with your existing audience. For more information, please see the full ART Audience Research Tool documentation.
Audience Discovery Tool
Select from demographic variables and interest categories to build an audience profile, then find new targets across the U.S. that match this target audience. For more information, please see the full ART Audience Discovery Tool documentation.
Bid Recommendations
In the Pontiac Platform, you have full control over bidding for all your campaigns. When setting up a Line Item, you can define a Basic Bid, Bid at Floor Price, and Advanced Bid Controls for your media. Closing bids reflect the total cost, including any applicable Audience fees or Foot Traffic fees.
Basic Bid: Standard bid price applied across all inventory. If the final clearing price is lower than the base bid, the system will adjust and bid one cent above the next highest bid to secure the impression efficiently.
Bid at Floor Price: The maximum bid price and CPM floor allowed for an auction.
Bid at Floor Price Plus: Additionally, when Bid at Floor Price is selected, users also have an option to utilize a plus option in the configuration popup window located to the Max Bid Price:
Add CPM: The CPM you will add to the Bid Floor Price.
Add Percentage: The percentage of the Bid Floor Price that you will add.
Advanced Bid Controls: This feature allows you to set a Maximum Bid Price (overall cap) and customize Bid Prices by Deal. Access Bid Controls by selecting the arrow next to the Max Bid Price field.
Default Bid Price: This is the default bid price for deals where a bid price is not defined for a specific deal. This is usually used when a new deal is added to the line and the bid prices are not explicitly set.
Max Bid Price: This is the maximum bid price that this line will bid and overrides bids set on each deal. If a deal’s bid price is higher than the max bid price this line will not bid on that deal.
Deal-Specific Bids: For each Deal targeted at both the Campaign and Line level, you can set a unique Bid Price, giving you greater control over bid adjustments and spending limits.
If you target Deals at either the Campaign level or the Line level and you only use one level, all of those Deals will be visible in the Advance Bid Controls.
If you set Deals at both levels, only the overlap (intersection) of the Campaign Deals and Line Deals will appear in Advanced Bid Controls. This ensures you’re only adjusting bids for Deals that are active at both levels.
See screenshot below of the Advanced Bid Controls popup window.
Example Scenarios
Scenario 1: Max Bid Price is higher than all Deal Bid Prices
Default Bid Price = $10.00
Max Bid Price = $20.00
All Deals being targeted in the above scenario have bid prices lower than the Max Bid Price. This means that the Line will be able to bid on all the deals. If a new deal is added to this list in the targeting section, then the default bid for the new deal will be $10.00 (until updated) and would automatically be eligible to bid on the inventory through the new deal since $10.00 < $20.00.
Scenario 2: Max Bid Price is higher than some Deal Bid Prices
Default Bid Price: $10.00
Max Bid Price: $13.00
Only Deal IDs: 15 and 23 being targeted in the above scenario have bid prices lower than the Max Bid Price. This means that the Line will only be able to bid on inventory through Deal IDs: 15 and 23 and will not bid on inventory through Deal IDs: 20, 21, and 22. If a new deal is added to this list in the targeting section, then the default bid for the new deal will be $10.00 (until updated) and would automatically be eligible to bid on the inventory through the new deal since $10.00 < $13.00.
Deal Floor Price Tooltip
In the Advance Bid Controls popup window, users can now hover over the question mark icon to reveal bid floor prices from the previous day’s sample request.
Here users can find the following bid insights:
Min: The lowest observed floor price
Max: The highest observed floor price
Avg: The average floor price for the previous day
Media: The median floor price for the previous day
This tooltip provides users with quick visibility into the range and distribution of floor prices for each deal. It helps buyers understand the competitiveness of the deal and adjust bidding strategies accordingly.
Bid Recommendations by Media Type
CTV
The typical prices for CTV placements range from $28-40, with premium inventory available at prices over $40. If you are targeting a CTV deal you will be given the CPM floor. We recommend setting your maximum bid at least $3-$5 above the minimum. CTV placements on the Open Exchange may sell at a lower CPM, but we recommend using PMP’s as they guarantee fraud-free inventory.
OTT
The PMPs are real-time bidding environments with a specified price floor as defined by the publisher. This is the minimum CPM bid required to enter the auction. These auctions can be very competitive and typically PMPs will clear somewhere between 40-80% higher than the Deal Price Floor. Closing CPMs are on average in the $20-40 range. However, this will vary greatly according to the caliber of publishers and inventory selected, where the PMP falls in the publisher waterfall, the level of competition, the format (Live, Short Form etc), the time of year and more. In general, we recommend using the price floors for guidance and adding an additional 40-50% to start the bidding. If you are not achieving the desired scale, continue to increase bids.
OLV
Bids vary for video inventory and deal, but we recommend a bid structure of at least an $6-$8 base bid. Run an Inventory Availability report to see average CPM based on your campaign targeting.
Audio
Audio can be bought either through the Open Exchange, or via PMPs. Bids on the Open Exchange typically clear between $10 and $13, whereas PMP Deals are often in the $18 – $25 range. Each PMP will have specific bid recommendations.
Display
Display Bid Prices vary with targeting and Audience data. The standard recommendation for display is a bid between $2-4, but this will increase as targeting becomes more granular.
Bid Recommendations with Audience Segments or Foot Traffic Attribution
All Audience segments have an additional cost CPM that should be added to your bid data. If your base bid is $2.43 and you are targeting an Audience segment with a cost of $2 CPM, you will actually be bidding $0.43 for media. If you are using an Audience segment, add the cost of the segment to the standard recommendation for the media type. If you are using various Audiences, add the average of all of the Audience costs to the standard recommendation for the media type. Foot Traffic Attribution also has an additional cost of $1.50 CPM. All campaigns receiving Foot Traffic Studies should add $1.50 to the bid recommendation for the media type.
LiveRamp CRM segment: Add $2.00 to the recommended bid for the media type
Transunion CRM segment: Add associated CPM to the bid for the media type
Geoframed Onspot segment: Add $2.00 to the recommended bid for the media type
Job Title/Employer Bombora segment: Varies based on the segment, add the CPM shown in the ‘Onboarded’ section of the Audiences tab to the recommended bid for the media type
Custom Contextual AI segment: Add $2.00-$4.00 to the recommended bid for the media type
Other Third-Party Audiences: Add associated CPM to the recommended bid for the media type
Foot Traffic Studies:
Banner, Native, Audio & Video add $1.50 to the recommended bid for the media type
CTV add $4.00 to the recommended bid for the media type
