Ad-Tech Innovator QTT Launches Marketplace to Drive Seamless Digital, Linear TV Ad Interoperability

-Launch Follows Receipt of Patents Achieving Advertising-System Interoperability Among Broadcasters, Cable Networks, MVPDs and Digital Supply and Demand Side Platforms

-Initial Television Participants Include A+E Networks, FOX, Reelz; Magnite Is First Participating SSP

Buyers and sellers of linear television ad inventory now have a fully transparent solution enabling them to automate and expedite the activation of data-driven linear video inventory without changing existing workflows or technologies.

QTT, a video platform that bridges existing standard digital and TV advertising technologies and makes linear TV advertising behave digitally, announced the launch of QTT Marketplace. QTT Marketplace is an open-platform destination for advertisers and agencies accustomed to digital platforms to access directly a wealth of premium, curated local and national television inventory – and for television inventory owners to tap more directly into the rapidly growing digital ad pool.

Marketing Technology News: Vericast Survey: How Deals Play a Role in Return to Pre-Pandemic Activities

“The last mile to activate linear TV advertising through existing digital platforms is finally here”

“The last mile to activate linear TV advertising through existing digital platforms is finally here,” said John Piccone, president of QTT. “Buyers and sellers can now take advantage of their investments in data-driven audience planning tools by activating at scale through QTT’s seamless translation platform. As a result, we now have an array of partners offering premium television inventory through demand- and sell-side platforms to connect them directly with traditional and new digital advertisers.”

The QTT Marketplace launch follows the completion of a family of QTT patents delivering seminal steps in the integration of the pan-device digital and linear television advertising ecosystems.

The QTT Marketplace is a new extension of QTT software developed to allow agencies and media buyers to see the linear ad packages – including rates, scheduling and number of spots – made available by QTT licensees including MVPDs, broadcast television stations and broadcast and cable networks. An ad campaign can then proceed seamlessly via any respective demand-side platform (DSP) and SSP through the VAST standards and Deal IDs to complete a brand-safe transaction that delivers the campaign’s message to premium audiences.

“A+E Networks has been on the forefront in building scalable demand-side partnerships,” said Ethan Heftman, SVP Advanced Advertising and Digital Sales at A+E Networks. “QTT and its Marketplace are a one-two punch that automates access to new demand while ensuring control over our pricing and inventory.”

“At FOX, we continue to find ways to better serve our clients and look for solutions to drive incremental yield while reducing the workflow efforts to leverage our advanced TV technologies,” said Dan Callahan, SVP Data Strategy and Sales Innovation for Fox. “Earlier this year, we partnered with Operative to move all linear sales to a single cloud system and, in turn, this allowed a seamless partnership with QTT to connect specific cable network linear avails to digital ad platforms.”

Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview With George Donovan, Chief Revenue Officer at Allego

“More and more digital advertisers are looking to linear TV to increase their reach efficiently,” said Bill Rosolie, SVP Advertising Sales at ReelzChannel. “We see QTT as a platform to unlock the value of target-rich audiences across our portfolio of independent networks.”

“In our environment where most ‘game-changing technology’ really isn’t, the QTT Marketplace is,” said Eric Fischer, Founder and CEO of buying agency HJA Strategic Marketing. “Their ability to provide a solution for digital-first advertisers to seamlessly access unduplicated linear TV audiences at scale, and conversely provide linear TV networks access to thousands of digital advertisers, adds a whole new dimension to the TV buying ecosystem.”

Leveraging the existing Video Advertising Standard Template (VAST) tag, the patented QTT approach allows digital platforms to develop their own solutions to bring linear television inventory to complement their digital buys. As the first sell-side advertising platform (SSP) integrated with QTT, Magnite, the world’s largest independent SSP, developed its own proprietary solution that complements QTT’s patented technology and exposes linear inventory programmatically to buyers based on existing TV measurement currencies. Because digital attributes such as Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)-based impression pixels aren’t available on linear platforms, Magnite’s methodology captures, and reports ratings based upon viewing windows agreed to by media owners and marketers.

“Our clients have been asking for streamlined tools to enable programmatic monetization of their linear inventory and complement their CTV advertising efforts,“ said Todd Randak, SVP Strategy and Partnerships at Magnite. “With QTT we can now offer premium linear TV opportunities through the Magnite platform as if they were any other digital video ad.”

“The conversion of linear-enabled avails to VAST tag-enabled avails, is a pivotal development,” Piccone noted. “And, importantly, the QTT Marketplace keeps the control in the hands of the respective parties in a transaction. Advertisers get full transparency and accountability for their buys. Broadcasters, cable programmers and MVPDs maintain complete control over their inventory and pricing.”

Marketing Technology News: The Biggest Senders Have Their Eyes On A Modern Data Warehouse