Half of 2024 CTV impressions lack full app transparency, blinding marketers: Report

DoubleVerify released its latest report, DV Global Insights: Trends in the Modern Streaming Landscape, offering a look at the state of streaming TV advertising in 2025. Drawing from DV’s proprietary measurement data and a global consumer survey of 22,000 viewers, the report explores how consumer behavior and advertising performance are evolving across the rapidly growing connected TV (CTV) ecosystem. In 2024, DV’s CTV impression volume increased by 66% year-over-year, reflecting both the scale and importance of the medium for advertisers. Yet, DV’s research also underscores the significant challenges still facing the industry — the lack of app transparency, persistent viewability blind spots, and high rates of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT), including bot fraud.

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“CTV has become a centerpiece of digital video strategy with huge growth potential for both branding and performance campaigns,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. “It is still a maturing medium, however, and this report highlights the very real challenges inherent in that evolution. A lack of transparency, an increase in rogue behavior, and the lack of industry operational standards create an environment in which media waste is becoming a growing issue. These are challenges that a combination of technology innovation plus industry collaboration can address to the advantage of all advertisers.”

Key findings from DV’s report on streaming include:

· CTV ad impression volumes rose 66% year-over-year, with particularly strong growth in markets such as the Netherlands, Indonesia, and Singapore.

· Only 50% of CTV impressions offered full app transparency in 2024, creating significant blind spots for marketers.

· “TV Off” remains a widespread issue, where ads continue to play even after the TV screen has been turned off. Without proper safeguards, this and other media quality issues in CTV cost advertisers an average of $700,000 in wasted spend per billion impressions.

·Bot fraud accounts for 65% of all CTV fraud – with 4 million infected devices generating fake traffic daily, costing advertisers millions in wasted spend each month.

The report also examines how consumer preferences are shaping the streaming ad experience. According to DV’s survey, 41% of consumers now prefer ad-supported video over paid subscriptions, with long-form content (like TV shows and podcasts) offering stronger environments for brand-building than short-form platforms do. Importantly, 64% of viewers say the genre of content impacts how they perceive ads and brands, reinforcing the need for contextual ad alignment.

Later in the report, DV reveals findings from a separate global survey of nearly 2,000 marketers, which explores how advertisers are adapting their streaming strategies in light of these challenges. The marketer study dives into CTV spending trends, barriers to growth, and increasing demand for transparency, measurement, and brand suitability.

Key data points from the marketer poll reveal:

·72% of marketers say ads placed in CTV environments outperform their campaign baselines, underscoring the channel’s strong perceived ROI.

·At the same time, 68% of marketers say they must have transparency to justify the high cost of CTV advertising, signaling a clear demand for better visibility into where ads are running.

·Additionally, 63% of marketers say it’s difficult to tell whether their CTV buys are actually reaching real viewers, a concern compounded by ongoing issues like “TV Off” scenarios and inconsistent viewability standards.

Despite these challenges, 54% of marketers increased their CTV spend over the past year, and 66% of non-CTV advertisers plan to begin investing in the channel in the next 12 months.

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