AdGood repurposes unsold CTV inventory for $6 CPM nonprofit campaigns
AdGood, a startup founded by Wurl alumni, provides a platform for nonprofits to access discounted CTV advertising inventory donated by publishers such as LG, Samsung, and A&E. The company utilizes an AI-driven ad management tool to facilitate campaign creation and targeting for organizations that previously found linear television advertising cost-prohibitive.
Key Takeaways
- Samsung, LG, A&E, and Scripps donate excess inventory to AdGood's nonprofit platform
- Nonprofits access $6 CPMs, significantly lower than the standard $18-$25 range
- AdGood manages 4.5 billion monthly ad avails, providing publishers with tax certifications
- A built-in AI tool generates ads by scrubbing nonprofit websites for creative assets
Why It Matters
This initiative addresses the persistent challenge of 'ad slates'—the dead air or generic loops that occur when inventory goes unsold—which can lead to viewer churn. By filling these gaps with mission-driven content, publishers maintain engagement while capturing tax benefits for otherwise wasted time. For the broader ecosystem, it demonstrates a sophisticated secondary market for excess programmatic inventory that bypasses traditional price floors. Look for whether this $6 CPM benchmark pressures traditional PSA rate structures or if more FAST platforms sign on to reduce their reliance on repetitive house ads.
Additional Context
The launch of AdGood comes as the CTV industry grapples with a widening gap between viewership growth and advertiser demand. Per Wurl findings in March 2025, ad fill rates have lagged behind the explosive increase in content supply, creating a surplus of available impressions. This oversupply is particularly acute in the FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) sector, where eMarketer reported that nearly 30% of inventory can go unsold in specific markets despite U.S. CTV ad spend projected to reach $32.57 billion by 2025. Effectively managing this 'wastage' is critical for platforms like LG and Samsung, which rely on high-quality viewer experiences to drive hardware retention. Technologically, the platform leans on established infrastructure through partners including Magnite and SpringServe. According to Magnite reporting from April 2025, the company has increasingly focused on unifying its programmatic layers to give publishers tighter control over yield management and real-time ad optimization. This technical flexibility allows startups like AdGood to implement contextual targeting—matching nonprofit ads to the specific mood or genre of the preceding program—without the overhead of building a proprietary ad server from scratch. This movement toward more efficient inventory management is a direct response to 'content rage,' a phenomenon where viewers exit streaming apps due to poor ad experiences or irrelevant commercial breaks.
Read full article at forbes.com
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