LEARN
CTV advertising terms explained
QUICK ANSWER
Short, plain definitions of the terms you meet when buying streaming TV ads, from CTV and FAST to holdout tests and MCP. Each links to related terms and, where useful, to the page that goes deeper.
Ad pod
A group of ads played back to back in one break in streaming content.
Related: CPM (cost per mille)
Ad verification
Checks, usually by a separate third-party firm, that ads were delivered as bought: viewable, to real viewers, in the right places.
Related: Brand safety
AI agent (in ad buying)
Software that plans or changes campaigns from plain-language instructions, inside a platform or through an AI assistant.
Related: MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Attribution
Assigning credit for a result, such as a site visit or sale, to the ad exposures that came before it.
Related: Attribution window · Incrementality
Attribution window
The period after someone sees an ad in which a later visit or purchase is still credited to it. Widening it credits more actions.
Related: Attribution
AVOD (ad-supported video on demand)
Streaming where viewers watch for free or a lower price in exchange for ads. Many subscription services now offer an ad tier.
Brand lift study
A survey-based study comparing awareness, consideration or intent between exposed and unexposed people.
Related: Lift
Brand safety
Settings and checks meant to stop ads running next to content the advertiser wants to avoid.
Related: Ad verification
CPA (cost per acquisition)
The cost of one desired action, such as a purchase or sign-up. Some platforms offer CPA or outcome-based pricing instead of, or as well as, CPM.
Related: CPM (cost per mille) · Outcome-based pricing
CPM (cost per mille)
What an advertiser pays for every thousand ad impressions. Most streaming TV is sold and invoiced this way.
Related: CPA (cost per acquisition)
CTV (connected TV)
A television connected to the internet, directly or through a device such as a streaming stick or games console, that plays streaming apps. CTV advertising means ads shown in those apps on the TV screen.
Related: OTT (over the top) · FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) · Streaming TV
Direct deal
An agreement to buy inventory straight from a publisher at agreed terms, sometimes with guaranteed delivery.
Related: PMP (private marketplace)
DSP (demand-side platform)
Software that advertisers and agencies use to bid for ad impressions across many publishers and exchanges from one place.
Related: SSP (supply-side platform) · Programmatic buying
FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV)
Free streaming channels paid for by ads, often laid out like a traditional channel guide.
Related: AVOD (ad-supported video on demand)
Frequency cap
A ceiling on how often one household or device is shown the same ad within a set period.
Related: VCR (video completion rate)
Geo test
An experiment that runs ads in some regions and not in comparable others, then compares results.
Related: Holdout group
Holdout group
Part of the audience deliberately kept from seeing the ads, used as a comparison to measure lift.
Related: Incrementality
Household graph
A map linking the devices in one household, such as the TV, phones and laptops, so that a TV ad exposure can be connected to later actions on other devices.
Related: Attribution
Incrementality
The share of results caused by the ads, measured by comparing people or places that could see the ads with similar ones that could not.
Related: Holdout group · Geo test · Lift
Lift
The difference in an outcome between the exposed group and the comparison group, often shown as a percentage.
Related: Incrementality
Linear TV
Traditional scheduled broadcast and cable television, watched as it airs. Linear ads are usually bought as spots in programmes or time slots.
Related: Streaming TV
Managed service
Campaigns set up and run by the platform's own team rather than by the advertiser in a self-serve tool.
Related: Self-serve
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Model Context Protocol: an open standard for linking AI assistants to outside software and data. When an ad platform offers an MCP server, an assistant can look up campaign data or make changes the user signs off on.
Related: AI agent (in ad buying)
Minimum spend
The smallest budget a platform accepts for a campaign, account or period. Some platforms publish one, some state none, and some give only guidance.
Related: CPM (cost per mille)
MMM (marketing mix modelling)
A statistical model that uses historical spend and sales across channels to estimate each channel's contribution over time.
Related: Incrementality
OTT (over the top)
Video delivered over the internet rather than through cable or satellite. OTT covers streaming on TVs, phones and computers; CTV is the TV-screen part of it.
Related: CTV (connected TV)
Outcome-based pricing
Pricing where the advertiser pays for results, such as conversions, rather than for impressions. Terms and what counts as a result vary by platform.
Related: CPA (cost per acquisition)
PMP (private marketplace)
An invitation-only auction where a publisher offers selected inventory to chosen buyers, often with a floor price.
Related: Programmatic buying · Direct deal
Programmatic buying
Buying ad impressions through software, usually by automated bidding, instead of manual orders.
Related: DSP (demand-side platform) · PMP (private marketplace)
ROAS (return on ad spend)
Ad-driven revenue divided by ad cost. The figure moves with the attribution method and window behind it.
Related: Attribution
Self-serve
A platform where the advertiser's own team sets up, buys and optimizes campaigns.
Related: Managed service
SSP (supply-side platform)
Software publishers use to offer their ad inventory to many buyers and DSPs.
Related: DSP (demand-side platform)
Streaming TV
TV shows, films and live channels watched through internet apps. In advertising it is often used interchangeably with CTV.
Related: CTV (connected TV) · Linear TV
Tracking pixel
A snippet placed on a website that logs visits and purchases, so a platform can link them to households that saw an ad.
Related: Attribution
VCR (video completion rate)
The share of video ad starts that play to the end.
Related: CPM (cost per mille)