CTV

Connected TV (CTV) is a television that streams internet video through smart TV software or an attached device such as a streaming stick or set-top box, and the advertising in that stream.

In bid requests, CTV is a device type. The AdCOM list used by OpenRTB, derived from the TAG Inventory Quality Guidelines, gives connected TV the value 3 and set-top box the value 7 (IAB Tech Lab, AdCOM 1.0, List: Device Types). CTV ads usually play in breaks inside programmes. They are often stitched into the stream on a server, which OpenRTB 2.6 records in the ssai field, and sold through pod bidding fields that describe the whole ad break.

CTV now takes a large share of programmatic budgets. In the ANA's Q2 2026 benchmark, published on 6 August 2026, CTV accounted for 41.6% of the spend the benchmark tracked (Fiducia on ANA, August 2026). Buyers face particular risks. Server-side insertion hides device signals, and the MRC lists SSAI spoofing among sophisticated invalid traffic. Targeting usually works at household level rather than for one person.

Example: A CTV bid request carries "device": {"devicetype": 3}, an app object with the streaming app's store ID and a video object with "podid": "break-2" and "poddur": 90. The DSP knows it is bidding on a 90-second break on a TV screen.

Related terms: SSAI, pod bidding, FAST channel, ACR data, household graph, bundle ID.

Authoritative source: IAB Tech Lab, AdCOM 1.0, "List: Device Types" (accessed 9 November 2026).

Read the full guide: SSAI and CTV ad serving: VAST, pod bidding and OpenRTB for CTV.