CTV (Connected TV) is a television connected to the internet — either a smart TV with built-in streaming software or a regular TV with a streaming device (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast). It's the device on which [[ott]] content is watched, and it's an addressable advertising surface bought much like other digital media.
Why CTV is different from mobile UA
- Non-clickable — there's no tap-to-install on a TV ad, so [[view-through-rate]] and view-through attribution matter more than click-through.
- Household, not device — CTV targets and measures at the household/IP level, often using identity graphs to connect exposure to a later mobile install.
- Lean-back, big-screen — full-screen, sound-on, high-completion creative — closer to brand TV than performance mobile.
- Programmatic — bought through DSPs and exchanges like other digital inventory, with audience targeting linear TV can't match.
For app marketers, CTV offers reach beyond increasingly saturated and privacy-constrained mobile in-app inventory, with stronger brand impact. The measurement trade-off is real: connecting a sound-on living-room impression to a phone install requires identity resolution and is best validated with [[incrementality]] testing rather than taken at last-click face value.
CTV vs linear TV vs mobile
Where CTV sits between traditional TV and mobile
| Linear TV | CTV | Mobile in-app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting | Broad demographic | Addressable, audience-level | Device / ID-level |
| Buying | Upfronts / spots | Programmatic (DSPs) | Programmatic / SANs |
| Response | None (brand) | View-through (non-clickable) | Click-to-install |
| Measurement | Panels / reach | Identity graph + incrementality | Deterministic / SKAN |
| Funnel role | Awareness | Upper / mid funnel | Performance |
CTV brings TV's lean-back, full-screen impact into the programmatic, audience-addressable world — the bridge between brand reach and digital targeting.
The CTV buying landscape
CTV inventory is fragmented across platform walled gardens and the open programmatic market. The major platforms — Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung, LG, Apple TV, Google TV — each control device-level inventory and data, while [[fast-tv]] (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels and the streaming services sell slots through their own and third-party [[dsp]]s. Buying is programmatic and audience-targeted, but the identity fragmentation makes reach and frequency harder to control than the platform demos suggest.
When CTV makes sense for an app
CTV is an upper-funnel, brand-leaning channel — it earns its place once an app has the scale, budget, and measurement maturity to value reach it can't tie to a click. It's strong for apps with broad consumer appeal and a real brand story (streaming, finance, health, gaming) and weak for narrow-audience or pure-performance plays that need a measurable last click. Treat it as reach that lifts your other channels, validated with [[incrementality]] and [[view-through-rate]], not as a standalone install machine.