Publica by IAS, Index Exchange, and The Trade Desk unveil new research showing an 84% drop in ad selection carbon emissions by adopting OpenRTB 2.6 for CTV advertising

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Jun 16, 2023, 08:00 ET

Powered by data from Scope3, the research found newly introduced pod bidding feature drives further efficiency and sustainability throughout the CTV advertising supply chain

NEW YORK, June 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Publica by IAS, the market-leading Connected TV (CTV) ad-server, in partnership with Index Exchange and The Trade Desk, today released research findings powered by Scope3 data about the benefits of adopting OpenRTB 2.6 and pod bidding to support sustainability in programmatic CTV advertising.

The collaborative research uncovered an 84% drop in ad selection carbon emissions when CTV ad space was purchased from a programmatic supply chain using OpenRTB 2.6's pod bidding versus an older OpenRTB protocol.

OpenRTB 2.6 was developed by IAB Tech Lab and their members, including Publica by IAS and Index Exchange. The newly updated specifications allow CTV streaming publishers to present their inventory more accurately, giving buyers the flexibility to respond to bids in a way that will maximize their chances of winning an auction, and ultimately driving an improved viewer experience. OpenRTB 2.6 also introduces pod bidding, a breakthrough feature that allows advertising technology platforms to merge several requests down to a single request.

This research comes at a time when sustainability is a key focus for the digital advertising sector. Marketers are asking to work with technology partners that can help them to better understand the environmental impact of their digital advertising practices, and the trillions of impressions that flow back and forth between advertising platforms requiring a high amount of computational power to transact programmatically, even when the ad slot is not filled.

"We are excited to be able to demonstrate the value that OpenRTB 2.6 can bring to those on both the buy and sell sides of CTV. Not only does OpenRTB 2.6 reduce repetitive ads, enhance targeting and transparency, but it also reduces a marketer's carbon output when they buy CTV inventory from publishers who are working with ad servers, SSPs, and DSPs who are now supporting this latest spec from IAB Tech Lab," said Publica VP Product James Wilhite, who was one of the architects of the latest OpenRTB 2.6 protocols.

"We're thrilled to see the Programmatic Supply Chain Working Group contributors not only adopting OpenRTB 2.6, but helping to make a business case for why others in the industry should adopt it as well," said Jill Wittkopp from IAB Tech Lab.

"OpenRTB 2.6 helps improve everything in the adtech bid stream," said Will Doherty, Vice President of Inventory Partnerships, The Trade Desk. "We support the IAB Tech Lab as well as the rest of the industry to improve the ad buying experience in CTV and, perhaps more critically, reduce carbon output from that same bid stream."

"We designed pod bidding support in OpenRTB 2.6 to bring linear TV-style ad breaks to streaming TV," said Rob Hazan, senior director of product, streaming TV, at Index Exchange. "We've known that podded bid requests improve the advertising experience for viewers and marketers. This study demonstrates their ability to create a more sustainable supply chain while maintaining or improving publisher revenue. We encourage the industry to accelerate the adoption of this new standard."

Publica, Index Exchange, Trade Desk, and Scope3 have committed to help marketers and publishers operate in a way that reduces their carbon emissions.

About Publica by IAS

Publica, awarded "Best Video Ad Server" in the 2022 AdWeek Readers Choice Awards, is a leading streaming TV ad server and works with many of the world's biggest broadcasters, TV manufacturers, and streaming apps. Headquartered in New York, Publica provides solutions for publishers to maximize their revenue across their streaming TV inventory through key solutions including a Unified Auction, Ad Pod Management, Audience Management, Server-Side Ad Insertion, Contextual Management, Ad Quality Management and Measurement and Verification. Publica serves over 6 billion ads on streaming TV every month, delivering quality ad experiences for Samsung, Hearst TV, Major League Baseball, Paramount, Crunchyroll, E. W. Scripps, Fox, IGN, Philo, XUMO, and more. Publica is owned by Integral Ad Science, a leading global media measurement and optimization platform. For more information, visit www.getpublica.com or contact [email protected].

About Index Exchange

Index Exchange is a global advertising marketplace enabling media owners to grow revenue by helping marketers reach consumers on any screen, through any format. Headquartered in Toronto, Index has nearly 20 years of experience accelerating the evolution of ad technology for the world's leading experience makers. To learn more, visit www.indexexchange.com or @indexexchange.

About The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk^™ is a technology company that empowers buyers of advertising. Through its self-service, cloud-based platform, ad buyers can create, manage and optimize digital advertising campaigns across ad formats and devices. Integrations with major data, inventory and publisher partners ensure maximum reach and decisioning capabilities, and enterprise APIs enable custom development on top of the platform. Headquartered in Ventura, CA, The Trade Desk has offices across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more, visit thetradedesk.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

SOURCE Integral Ad Science, Inc.