The news: Connected TV (CTV) ad spending is a key focus for most marketers, but a substantial confidence gap persists—driven by a lack of prioritization of key targeting strategies and an underdeveloped library of metadata.

Over half (52%) of US technology, financial services, retail, and healthcare brands have shifted at least one-quarter of their paid media budgets to CTV in the past three years, per Gracenote. Despite that change, 32% of US brand and agency executives say their CTV advertising is not very effective, and only 11% are prioritizing channel-level contextual targeting.

Why it matters: CTV is on track to overtake linear TV in global ad spending, making it a crucial channel for reaching audiences.

• CTV will command 40.2% of US TV ad spending this year with $33.48 billion, while linear TV ad spending will total $49.77 billion, per our forecast.
• We expect those numbers to flip within two years, and by 2029 CTV is forecast to reach 59.4% of TV ad spending, hitting $53.42 billion.

The problem: As CTV matures, advertisers are still grappling with fundamental barriers to effectiveness.

• Lack of insight into audience reach is the top CTV challenge for 27% of brands, per Gracenote, followed by difficulty measuring ROI (20%).
• Meanwhile, over half (54.8%) of advertisers report being unfamiliar with contextual advertising, a shortcoming that could undermine CTV’s full potential.

Limited use of contextual targeting creates visibility gaps—marketers often don’t know if campaigns are reaching the right viewers or delivering measurable ROI—eroding confidence in CTV’s impact.

Data hole: Compounding the problem is the fact that the majority (85%) of CTV inventory is bought programmatically, yet many transactions occur without the metadata needed to understand where ads appear or who they’re reaching.

• Nearly 70% of advertisers cite a lack of standardization in CTV metadata as a key challenge.
• 62% say greater consistency would increase confidence and justify higher ad spend.

The silver lining: These shortcomings present a clear opportunity to establish standardized, unified content metadata as a base for greater precision and confidence in CTV ad planning.

• Enriching CTV ad buys with program-level context—such as genre, tone, and mood—will let advertisers align messaging with relevant environments and capture TV’s storytelling power.
• Beyond efficacy, contextual targeting can help CTV deliver on its promised blend of digital precision and TV-scale impact.

What brands can do: By boosting focus on channel-level contextual targeting and integrating metadata like content type and TV listings, marketers can ensure ads appear alongside relevant programming—like sports events, entertainment genres, or family-friendly shows—improving resonance and reach.