Vizio, for instance, launched a tool called Universal Frequency Control this year that uses data from its automatic content recognition subsidiary Inscape to measure ad exposure at the “glass level,” or anytime an ad hits a Vizio screen, said Travis Hockersmith, vice president of Vizio’s Platform+ business.
Streaming services and ad tech companies on their own can’t do the same, he said, because they don’t own the hardware.
“What we tell advertisers is that we believe it’s the wisest approach to go direct to device,” Hockersmith said. “If an advertiser wants to piece together a buy at linear TV-like scale and control for frequency, we believe they’re best off going to the device manufacturers.”
Chalozin added that rotating through different creative versions of the same ad can also give consumers a break and motivate them to engage more. This, however, is not yet the norm in the industry.
“The problem is that for many marketers, they just don’t have multiple versions,” he said. “A lot more marketers are now understanding that you can do things like that.”
But there are other issues. Bryon Schafer, senior vice president of research at music video streaming service Vevo, said the problem is also tied to outdated ideology around CPMs — or cost per thousand impressions, the industry’s most important metric.
For many ad buyers, it’s “more palatable” to hit viewership goals by purchasing many ad placements at low CPMs, even if that means they’re ultimately reaching fewer people on fewer platforms, he said.
“The CPM is misleading,” Schafer said. The common thinking is that low CPMs are always better, “but that means more frequency and not the unique reach that you get with a more diversified media plan.”
Improvement by innovation: Streaming services introduce more interactive ad formats
Streaming services already offer a lighter ad load than linear TV — four to eight minutes per hour, compared to 17 on traditional television. Still, 44 percent of consumers said there are too many ads on streaming services in the September poll. Companies can’t advertise much less than they already are without losing money, but there are ways to make ads seem more palatable without reducing them in frequency.
To bother viewers less, streaming services are starting to move away from the traditional block of commercials and experiment with ad breaks, interactive ad formats and other new models enabled by the internet.
HBO Max, for example, introduced brand blocks, or blocks of content sponsored by a marketer that result in a reduced commercial experience for the viewer. Other services, including Peacock, have tried “binge ads,” which reward audiences with a commercial-free episode, brought to them by a brand.
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