How transparency and control are shaping programmatic streaming
Opinion
Transparency and control in CTV advertising have not kept pace with the scale and sophistication of streaming platforms. The gap needs to be closed, says DoubleVerify’s David Goddard.
As connected TV (CTV) cements itself as a dominant force in media consumption, advertisers are racing to keep pace. According to industry data, CTV spend in the UK is expected to nearly double by 2028, which may signal confidence in the channel’s potential and its increasingly central role in brand strategy.
However, rising investment alone does not guarantee better outcomes. In fact, without addressing key structural challenges embedded in today’s CTV ecosystem, increased spend may only magnify existing inefficiencies.
To unlock the true promise of programmatic CTV, advertisers must confront a persistent truth: transparency and control have not kept pace with the scale and sophistication of streaming platforms.
Unless this gap is closed, the industry risks repeating many of linear TV’s legacy inefficiencies, but amplified by the complexity of digital delivery.
Challenges in CTV measurement
Despite CTV’s digital foundations, many of the workflows powering today’s programmatic buys still reflect linear TV’s past. Upfront streaming commitments, designed initially to modernise traditional buying methods, often introduce unintended complications. Rather than providing precise control, these deals can result in ads delivering in environments far from the premium, TV-like settings advertisers expect.
In practice, this means an ad intended for a household’s main screen during a primetime streaming series may instead appear within a gaming application, a music streaming device, or other off-strategy inventory. These placements may technically qualify as “CTV,” but they often lack contextual relevance, meet viewability standards, or offer brand-suitable environments that marketers associate with premium streaming.
This mismatch matters. Without clear visibility into where impressions land, advertisers have less confidence that their ads are appearing during high-value moments.
As a result, budgets become diluted, frequency management becomes difficult, and brands lose the ability to uphold the quality standards expected of television.
Compounding this issue is the industry’s lack of unified measurement and consistent verification across platforms. Fragmentation remains one of the biggest obstacles in the media buying ecosystem. Each device, app, and publisher can capture and report performance differently. Without a standard system of record, advertisers are often left with incomplete and incomparable data.
As a result, brands often operate in an environment of uncertainty. Was that impression truly delivered on a large-screen device? Did it play within a premium long-form show, or was it served in a less valuable environment? Are budgets being allocated efficiently? Without clear answers, confidence and performance both suffer.
Maximising CTV performance
The good news is that the industry is rapidly evolving to address this imbalance. Advanced measurement and verification technologies now give advertisers the tools they’ve long needed to navigate CTV complexity with precision.
Today’s solutions can confirm true TV-like inventory by verifying that impressions appear in premium long-form content on large-screen devices. They can also detect non-premium or misaligned environments, ensuring budgets stay within placements that reflect a brand’s strategic intent.
With the rise of build-your-own-algorithm capabilities, advertisers can deploy customisable AI models. These ingest impression-level CTV signals and translate them into bidding and verification logic aligned directly with their brand, performance, and suitability goals.
This means advertisers and media buyers can now validate impression quality in real time, including viewability, fraud prevention, and compliance with brand suitability standards.
These capabilities do more than correct inefficiencies: they fundamentally shift the balance of power back to advertisers. With clearer insight into where ads run, how budgets are allocated, and whether impressions meet expected standards, brands can make smarter, more confident investment decisions.
As streaming grows as an ad channel, so do expectations. Marketers want the digital-style accountability they’re accustomed to, coupled with television’s high-impact environments. Verification systems bridge that gap by providing the clarity needed to ensure CTV delivers on its full promise.
This transparency also drives performance. When advertisers understand exactly which inventory performs, they can refine optimisation strategies, reduce waste, and hold partners accountable to TV-like quality. And when they can trust that impressions are genuinely premium, they can scale their investments without hesitation.
The path forward
The continued growth of programmatic CTV is inevitable. As more consumers cut the cord and lean into streaming for entertainment, news, and live programming, the channel will become increasingly influential. However, its future success, for both advertisers and publishers, hinges on confronting the industry’s measurement challenges head-on.
Advertisers who adopt advanced verification and insist on transparency will be best positioned to turn growing budgets into meaningful results. They will protect their brands, maintain control over their investments, and capture the full potential of TV’s modern evolution.
In short, the promise of CTV is too significant to be undermined by outdated workflows and blind spots. Elevating transparency, accuracy, and verification is the next critical step in ensuring that programmatic impressions truly deliver the premium, TV-like performance advertisers expect.
As we approach 2026, transparency and verification are no longer optional. They are non-negotiable.
David Goddard is SVP, business development for measurement and publisher solutions at DoubleVerify