Netflix, Apple TV and Prime Video.
egadolfo
With more people in the living rooms broadcasting shows and movies during the Covid pandemic, connected TV space has seen an astronomical rise. And Google wants to lean on this growth with YouTube.
YouTube product director Neal Mohan will update advertisers on what the platform saw last year during a session at the annual meeting of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s management on Wednesday morning. The company plans to share new figures regarding the growth observed with viewers watching its platforms on connected TVs (CTV), offers such as the possibility for advertisers to measure with Nielsen before the next initial season and the trends seen on the platform this year. unusually past.
The pandemic was a boon for the streaming industry, benefiting players such as Roku and advertising technology player The Trade Desk. In 2020, eMarketer estimated that CTV’s advertising spending in the US was $ 8.11 billion, reaching $ 18.3 billion by 2024. But even though viewing has increased, eMarketer says most of its streaming time people happen without ads on platforms like Netflix, Disney + and Amazon Prime Video. This gives YouTube the opportunity to tell advertisers that they have a space to reach streaming TV viewers through its platform.
YouTube says viewers of its own platform are increasingly watching their TVs. In December 2020, 120 million people watched YouTube or YouTube TV on their TV screens while spending time at home. Mohan told CNBC that the figure rose from 100 million in March last year.
As viewers change, so do advertising dollars. Mohan said that in the last year, there have been moments of “light bulb” for advertisers and media buyers on the evolution of media consumption, since “they have experienced this in their own lives.”
YouTube said the mobile device still accounts for the largest percentage of how content is consumed on the platform. But in December, it was said that more than a quarter of connected YouTube viewers watched content almost exclusively on a TV screen. The company declined to explain how the rest of the audience is grouped.
To address this increased movement toward TVs, YouTube said for the first time in the early 2021 and 2022 season, advertisers will be able to use Nielsen to measure YouTube’s streaming TV inventory. Advances are when advertisers typically commit a large portion of their annual TV spending to bids.
This should help media buyers and sellers check the audience on YouTube and the YouTube TV apps on connected TVs. Offers like this are meant to show advertisers that they can reach audiences they can’t access elsewhere and make it easier to compare coverage with addressable linear TV. Previously, the company said that advertisers could only use Nielsen ratings to measure desktop and mobile platform inventory.
“This is what brands are asking for,” Mohan said.
YouTube also worked to build tools and deals for advertisers, which helped the business grow 46% year-over-year in the fourth quarter to $ 6.89 billion. The company has built direct response products on YouTube, such as “buyable” ads that include product images. The direct response was an area of strength that remained strong during the pandemic, but brand advertising also returned significantly in the fourth quarter, which also helped YouTube.
E-commerce has boomed in 2020; Americans spent $ 791.7 billion year-round on e-commerce, up 32.4 percent from 2019, according to data released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau. Mohan said the video plays a major role in this space, with creators reviewing products or making recommendations because the creators and their audience have a more authentic connection.
Mohan also intends to talk about the trend of taking videos in short form. TikTok’s YouTube competitor “Shorts” will be released in the US in beta in the “next few weeks,” the company said. Shorts does not run beta ads, but YouTube said it was “exploring money-making options.”