Samsung Ads argues that traditional metrics like subscriber counts and MAUs are insufficient for CTV advertising due to the prevalence of inactive 'ghost audiences.' The company suggests that advertisers should prioritize audience availability and addressability to better align campaign planning with actual reachable inventory.
The shift toward impression-based buying makes traditional reach metrics increasingly obsolete for advertisers seeking efficient spend. As ghost audiences inflate platform scale without providing reachable inventory, the industry must pivot toward deterministic viewing data captured at the glass level by OEMs and SSPs. This transition moves intelligence closer to the point of supply, allowing for real-time signals to dictate value rather than static subscriber counts. For the broader ecosystem, this necessitates a standardized definition of 'active' users to prevent budget waste on inactive accounts. Watch for whether major streaming platforms adopt these availability metrics in upcoming upfront negotiations to justify premium pricing.
As the industry shifts toward supply-side targeting adoption, advertisers are increasingly looking for ways to verify inventory quality beyond standard platform-reported metrics.
Samsung Ads warns that ghost audiences—inactive users who remain subscribed but do not watch content—are inflating CTV metrics. This discrepancy between reported subscriber counts and actual reachable inventory complicates ad buying. As the industry shifts toward impression-based models, advertisers must prioritize deterministic viewing data to ensure efficient spending and avoid waste.
Ghost audiences refer to inactive users who remain subscribed to a streaming platform but do not watch content during specific campaign windows, leading to inflated subscriber metrics.
Traditional metrics like Monthly Active Users (MAUs) fail to account for inactive subscribers, making them unreliable for advertisers who need to reach actual viewers during campaigns.
Samsung Ads identifies audience availability and addressability as the new essential metrics for determining transactable supply in the CTV advertising ecosystem.
Global CTV ad revenues are projected to reach $81 billion by 2030, which is nearly double the levels seen in 2025.
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