As the latest company to work on expanding targeted TV advertising, Roku on Wednesday introduced a new marketplace where advertising buyers and sellers can target specific audiences on the Roku platform in the U.S.
Through the company’s newly-launched Audience Marketplace, publishers can utilize Roku’s first-party data and proprietary ad technology to sell targeted audiences to advertisers that can run campaigns in TV programming watched via Roku TVs or streaming devices.
So far, 21st Century Fox, Turner and Viacom have all signed on to leverage the platform, which Roku said will offer both programmatic and traditional direct selling methods.
“Over-the-top distribution has been a key audience driver for Turner’s portfolio of premium content, with Roku being one of the preeminent partner platforms,” said Larry Allen, VP of Ad Innovation & Programmatic Solutions at Turner, in a statement. “Participating in Roku’s Audience Marketplace gives us access to rich insights and enhanced audience targeting capabilities, extending the ability for ad buyers to reach and engage with streaming viewing audiences that are critical to grow their business.”
Earlier this year, Roku introduced its Ad Insights offering to help better quantify campaign effectiveness and reach across linear TV, OTT, desktop and mobile.
“The business of streaming is winning – both in the minds of consumers and advertisers,” said Seth Walters, VP of Demand Partnerships at Roku. “As the industry’s leading TV streaming platform, we’re well-positioned to empower our publishers to unlock the full potential of OTT advertising and help them to meet the needs of brands and consumers.”
In April, NBCUniversal joined targeted TV advertising alliance OpenAP, a platform that was spearheaded by Fox, Turner and Viacom last year to help streamline and standardize advanced cross-platform advertising efforts.