A4, the advanced TV division of Altice USA, has launched a new addressable advertising solution for over-the-top (OTT) inventory. Altice says the new product will use IP-based targeting to deliver ads using “fully authenticated household level data”, though the company has not yet said which sorts of segments will be targetable.
Altice launched a4 last year as a multiscreen ad buying unit which it claims has a reach of over 90 million households. A4 uses a mix of data from different sources to enable addressability, including first-party data that advertisers on-board themselves, data from partnering multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs), plus de-identified Altice USA subscriber data. This same mix of data will be used for the new OTT offering.
The use of Altice’s own subscriber data is particularly interesting – as VAN has recently reported, it’s still early days for the telecommunications industry in terms of monetising its wealth of advertiser-friendly subscriber data.
The move into OTT comes as a time where a number of ad tech companies are seeing rapidly growing demand for OTT and connected TV (CTV) inventory. The Trade Desk and Telaria both reported strong growth in CTV in the last few weeks, and a4 is now looking to take a cut of this growing market itself.
“People are rapidly shifting their viewing habits to on-demand and streaming media products, and advertisers know they have to keep pace,” said Wael Sabra, SVP of product at a4. “Our OTT solution gives clients the ability to extend the high precision targeting that a4 is known for into what is quickly becoming one of the most important parts of modern media plans.”
GroupM’s advanced TV arm MODI Media, which is partnering with a4 for the new initiative, sees a strong appetite among buyers for new solutions which simplify CTV and OTT buying. “With the emergence of OTT and CTV, our clients are looking for better ways to reach those audiences,” said Garrett Winkler, director and connected television lead at MODI. “We partnered with a4 because they bring a unique data driven targeting approach to their OTT solution that ties in TV for an optimal cross-screen solution.”
