CTV Advertising: The New Battleground for Ad Dollars

Intro: The Shift From Linear to Connected TV

Not too long ago, watching TV meant flipping through channels and sitting through the same commercials as everyone else. Today, the living room screen looks completely different, and CTV advertising is reshaping how brands reach viewers. Audiences are streaming shows on demand, skipping traditional schedules, and choosing exactly what to watch. As these habits change, advertisers are shifting their budgets to follow.

CTV advertising is no longer just a side channel in media plans. With budgets moving away from linear TV and into streaming, CTV is quickly turning into the new battleground for ad dollars.

Why Advertisers Are Moving Budgets to CTV

Advertisers are chasing attention, and today that attention is on streaming screens. CTV combines the storytelling power of TV with the precision of digital, allowing brands to target specific households and measure results more effectively. It is no surprise that CTV ad spend in the United States is projected to reach 33.35 billion dollars in 2025, a 15.8 percent increase from the previous year.

Several factors are driving this budget shift:

• Advertisers can segment audiences by age, interests, location, and behaviors for precise targeted reach.
• Viewers move from mobile to desktop to TV, and CTV keeps brand messaging consistent across cross-device journeys.
• Interactive formats such as QR codes, overlays, or shoppable ads add performance and innovation, turning TV into a direct response channel.
• Many marketers now consider CTV a strategic priority, reallocating budgets from linear TV and social media.

What Advertisers Gain

The shift to CTV gives advertisers a chance to modernize how they run TV campaigns. Instead of relying on broad, untargeted linear buys, they can now:

• Reach Digital First Audiences – Younger viewers spend most of their time on streaming, making CTV the most effective way to reach them.
• Measure Impact – CTV provides concrete data on reach, completion rates, and conversions, something linear TV could never deliver.
• Maximize ROI – Budgets go further when ads are delivered to the right households instead of wasted on broad demographics.
• Experiment With Formats – Interactive and shoppable ads turn TV into a performance channel, not only a branding tool.

What Publishers and Platforms Gain

For publishers and streaming platforms, the budget shift into CTV is opening new revenue opportunities and strengthening their market position:

• Higher CPMs – CTV ad inventory typically sells for more than web or mobile, boosting monetization.
• Rising Demand – Advertisers are actively seeking CTV placements, putting premium publishers in high demand.
• New Monetization Avenues – Beyond standard pre rolls, interactive and commerce driven formats create fresh income streams.
• Leverage in Partnerships – Platforms with strong CTV libraries gain more negotiating power in direct and programmatic deals.

Challenges in Scaling CTV Advertising

While CTV is quickly becoming a centerpiece of advertising budgets, the shift is not without challenges. Both advertisers and publishers face obstacles that could slow down growth if left unresolved:

• Measurement has no universal standard, and results are often fragmented or double counted.
• Fraud is rising as growing ad spend attracts bots and spoofed inventory, increasing by 86 percent in 2024 according to DoubleVerify.
• Transparency is a concern as buyers want clearer supply paths and more direct relationships with publishers.
• Fragmentation across numerous devices and platforms makes it difficult to scale campaigns efficiently.

Why Acting Now Matters for Your CTV Advertising Strategy

The shift toward CTV is reshaping the advertising landscape, and the pace of change will only accelerate. Viewers are building habits around streaming that are unlikely to reverse, and ad budgets are following close behind. Advertisers that move early will not only secure better targeting and measurement today but will also be ready for the next wave of innovation, where interactive and commerce driven formats redefine what TV can deliver. For publishers, acting now means transforming content libraries into premium inventory and establishing the partnerships that will matter as demand scales.
Paired with cross device strategies, CTV is on track to become more than just another channel. It is the foundation for a future where branding, performance, and commerce converge on the biggest screen in the home.