Publica implements mediafile hashing to solve repetitive CTV ad delivery

Creative fatigue and repetitive ad delivery remain significant barriers to programmatic adoption in premium CTV environments. By shifting from metadata-dependent tracking to file-level identification, Publica addresses the transparency gap inherent in header bidding where multiple SSPs may offer the same creative under different labels. This technical stabilization is essential for traditional TV buyers who require strict frequency capping and competitive separation before shifting linear budgets to digital. Moving forward, watch for whether this hashing standard is adopted by other server-side ad insertion providers to create a cross-platform deduplication protocol.

The push for technical solutions like mediafile hashing comes as CTV ad fraud and measurement discrepancies remain high-priority issues for the IAB and major holding companies. According to a June 2024 report by DoubleVerify, fraudulent 'bot' impressions in the CTV space increased by 58% year-over-year, often exploiting the same metadata inconsistencies that lead to repetitive ad delivery. By move to a file-level hash, platforms can better verify the actual asset being served rather than trusting the bid response data alone, which is frequently stripped or altered during the multi-hop programmatic auction process.

Furthermore, the industry is seeing a shift toward 'universal' ad IDs to solve these frequency issues. Per AdExchanger in March 2024, the IAB Tech Lab has been advocating for the adoption of the 'Ad-ID' standard to provide a single source of truth for creative assets across both linear and digital. However, adoption has been slow due to the manual overhead required from creative agencies. Publica’s automated hashing approach provides a middle-ground solution that does not require buy-side participation, allowing publishers to maintain brand safety and user experience unilaterally while broader industry standards like OpenRTB 2.6 continue to gain traction.