Last week, Yahoo introduced two innovative CTV solutions to enhance advertisers’ experience in CTV.
Since chatting with Elizabeth Herbst-Brady in October, everyone has been talking about Yahoo’s DSP nonstop. The hype isn’t going away anytime soon, as Adam Roodman, SVP of Product Strategy told us directly, that more announcements will come this year.
Sitting beachside at the Yahoo Cabana at Possible, we had a very in-depth conversation with Roodman about targeting and addressability. He assured us that Yahoo DSP’s upcoming developments will prioritize measurement. But before diving into that, let’s explore how Yahoo’s Identity Solutions are expanding into CTV.
Yahoo Identity Solutions services include Yahoo ConnectID and Next-Gen Solutions, which launched within CTV environments, including Paramount, Tubi, NBC Universal, and FreeWheel. One thing that sets Yahoo ConnectedID apart from other identity offerings is that it’s a deterministic ID that easily attains consumer consent through a user’s relationship with the brand—no mystery there.
Yahoo ConnectID has expanded to include 205 million unique users in the US and nearly 300 worldwide. With nearly 70% of inventory going non-addressable because users opt-out of authentication, Yahoo’s Next-Gen Solutions is the perfect savior.
With only about 30% of the inventory authenticated, Yahoo DSP leverages alternative signals and panel-based targeting through Yahoo ConnectID, allowing expanded targeting even without identifiers.
Enhancing Connections: How Yahoo’s Identity Solutions Elevate Existing Partnerships
If one thing is for sure, and two things are for certain, Yahoo isn’t new to this they are true to this. The CTV partners mentioned, along with others not listed, have long been big partners of Yahoo. However, these updates have the power to elevate these partnerships.
“We’ve been accessing that inventory through various methods, whether PMP, PGD, or open market,” Roodman explained. “This just takes the partnership to the next level by allowing us to authenticate with them on the Yahoo ConnectID side. They are very excited about it. They see it as an opportunity to provide better advertising to their users; we see it as an opportunity to have better fidelity for measurement and targeting.”
According to Roodman, Yahoo DSP is the only one where you can actually test cookieless environments right now. They have developed the ability to strip out identifiers in real time, not only for cookies but also in apps. Stripping out identifiers in real time means that the DSP bidder lacks identifiers to auction or target against.
While many other platforms offer buyers post-campaign analysis, Yahoo DSP provides this data to buyers in real time.
Unlocking Unique Consumer Political Data with AdImpact
The 2024 election will be one of the most competitive in a while, and local elections are looking for the most seamless ways to reach potential voters.
Together with AdImpact, a leading ad intelligence SaaS company, Yahoo DSP has gained access to viewership data. This new capability enables political advertisers to reach potential voters effectively and at the right time.
In many instances, buyers can now leverage this data for their campaigns if they want to target audiences within 24 hours of a debate or other political event or wish to exclude audiences exposed to a political advertisement. This partnership offers better targeting and provides differentiated political viewership audiences for activation for local and national campaigns this election year. Although streaming accounts for about 38% of American viewership, political campaigns are only estimated to allocate 13% of their political ad spend on CTV.
Yahoo DSP to Infinity and Beyond
According to Roodman, while Yahoo Identity Testing may only be applicable for another couple of quarters, they have been really valuable for those looking to get ahead of the curve.
“The addressable world is expected to shrink from 75% of all inventory to less than 30% after cookie deprecation,” Roodman said. “While many DSPs are focused on the shrinking addressable, Yahoo Identity Solutions provides solutions for 100% of supply, regardless of identity state.”
Now that Yahoo’s customers can experiment with Yahoo ConnectID and Next-Gen Solutions, they are better prepared for the complexities of today’s ad tech. Tokohe ability to conduct A/B testing is facilitating improved conversations between Yahoo’s customers and publisher partners.
While choosing a measurement provider is ultimately up to the advertiser, Yahoo ConnectID ensures the fidelity of targeting and measurement accuracy. This is largely due to the use of a deterministic identifier, which is more reliable than probabilistic methods.