CTV advertisers projected to lose $700,000 per billion unviewed impressions
DoubleVerify released findings from its global insights report revealing that CTV advertisers risk losing $700,000 per billion impressions due to unviewed ads playing while TVs are turned off. The study notes that nearly two-thirds of marketers struggle to verify whether their streaming ads actually reach viewers, highlighting the need for better detection and viewability standards.
Key Takeaways
- Advertisers stand to lose $700,000 per billion impressions from ads playing while TVs are powered off.
- 63% of surveyed marketers report difficulty verifying whether their CTV ads reach actual viewers.
- DoubleVerify found only 50% of CTV impressions offered full app transparency in 2024.
- CTV ad impression volume grew 66% year-over-year, intensifying the financial impact of media waste.
Why It Matters
The persistence of 'TV Off' signals indicates that CTV's technical infrastructure has not kept pace with its rapid monetization. For engineers and ad-ops teams, this highlights a systemic failure in device-level response to playback signals, which directly erodes ROAS for high-CPM premium inventory. As the industry shifts toward performance-based streaming, legacy desktop viewability metrics are proving insufficient. To maintain buy-side confidence, platforms must adopt specific protocols like the Open Measurement SDK to ensure environmental transparency. Watch for whether major DSPs begin mandating 'Fully On-Screen' certification as a prerequisite for premium-tier programmatic bidding in late 2025.
Additional Context
The push for CTV transparency matches broad industry efforts to standardize cross-platform measurement. In May 2024, the IAB Tech Lab expanded its Open Measurement SDK (OM SDK) to include Samsung and LG, bringing standardized viewability signals to approximately 40% of the CTV market, per IAB Tech Lab. This expansion allows advertisers to detect 'TV Off' and 'inactive' states directly through the app environment on major smart TV operating systems. Furthermore, in April 2024, DoubleVerify secured MRC accreditation for its CTV viewability metrics, including its 'Fully On-Screen' segment, a move aimed at providing third-party validation for impressions previously considered a 'black box' by agencies. While measurement technology matures, the financial stakes are rising alongside shifts in viewership. According to Nielsen, as of March 2025, streaming accounted for 43.8% of total TV time in the U.S., a 10-point increase over two years. This growth is driving a surge in programmatic spending; eMarketer estimates programmatically bought CTV will reach $27 billion in 2025, representing over 84% of total streaming ad spend. However, a June 2025 Gracenote report found that only 14.3% of programmatic ad inventory included granular league-level information for live sports, suggesting that data fragmentation remains a hurdle even when viewability is verified. Simultaneously, major media companies are launching proprietary solutions to address the transparency gap. In December 2025, NBCUniversal unveiled its Performance Insights Hub to provide advertisers with a unified view of campaign delivery and real-time attribution across its 'One Platform' stack. This follows a broader 'multi-currency' initiative by the Joint Industry Committee (JIC), formed by FOX, NBCU, Paramount, and WBD, which aims to certify new measurement providers ahead of the 2025-2026 upfronts. These combined efforts reflect an industry-wide pivot toward outcome-based verification as CTV spend begins to surpass traditional linear budgets.
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