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Picture this: You sit down with your spouse to watch YouTube on your connected television (CTV), but before the video starts, a pre-roll ad runs promoting the services of the best divorce lawyer in town.
If you were watching linear television, where ads are served based on broad factors like programming and geography, you might be able to dismiss the spot as an awkward coincidence. But on ad-supported CTV, where ads increasingly reflect viewers’ search and purchase history, such plausible deniability is less certain. Had your partner been searching for a family attorney?
“This is all very new,” said digital advertising analyst Steven Golus. “But an awkward issue would only have to bubble up once for it to matter.”
This uncomfortable situation, and many others like it, is an unintended consequence of bringing ad personalization to CTV, which is historically one of the primary selling points of the medium compared to its linear TV predecessor.
Pointing to the efficacy of targeted ads on the internet, marketers have worked feverishly to bring the same level of targeting to CTV. But while most web browsing occurs in private, on personal cell phones and laptops, 51% of CTV is watched by two or more viewers in a household at the same time, according to a December 2023 report from LG Ad Solutions.
This co-viewing, which can take place with partners, friends, family members and even strangers, fundamentally differentiates the experience of CTV advertising from its counterparts on the open web.
“If you consider the notion of private versus public ads,” said digital advertising consultant Scott Messer, “then this is the first time people are being served targeted ads in a group setting.”
The resulting incongruity—being served personalized ads in communal settings—risks creating uncomfortable experiences for viewers, especially when it comes to sensitive categories like health, pharmaceuticals and sex and wellness. These awkward experiences could also negatively impact consumers’ perceptions of both brands and the platforms they advertise on, according to Sparrow Advisors principal Ana Milecivic.
Many marketers dismiss the problem as an inevitable consequence of an otherwise worthwhile pursuit. But even limited instances of privacy violations can have outsized impacts on the public perception, and legislation, surrounding a new technology. Consider the 2012 story of the young woman whose father discovered that she was pregnant after Target mailed her coupons for cribs, which helped spur public support for consumer data protections.
