The steep rise of CTV
One of the most striking findings of the report is the rapid growth of CTV advertising. The average budget allocated to CTV is projected to double from 14% in 2023 to 28% in 2025, with marketers shifting resources from linear TV and web and mobile digital advertising to take advantage of this growing channel. This trend is being fuelled by the growing popularity of streaming services and a decline in traditional TV viewership as consumers cut cable TV and embrace digital content consumption.
What this means for you: your colleagues clearly embrace CTU. Before you adjust your budget to keep up with the Joneses, read up on how they use CTV.
CTV's identity crisis: is CTV a strong brand or a power player?
Interestingly, although CTV is experiencing explosive growth, there seems to be a disconnect between its perceived strengths and its potential for performance marketing. A surprising 80% of marketers identify CTV as the most effective channel for achieving brand objectives, but only 20% believe it is suitable for performance marketing objectives, i.e. driving direct sales. This disparity is puzzling given that, according to the report, CTV boasts a high percentage of impressions with known IDs (89%), which should theoretically make it a strong candidate for performance-oriented campaigns.
Several factors may contribute to this discrepancy. Measurement issues, the inherent focus on brand building that is typical of CTV, creative format limitations, inventory limitations, and persistent industry perceptions may all play a role. As measurement and targeting options for CTV improve and marketers gain more experience with the channel, there may be a shift in the perception and use of CTV for performance marketing.
What this means for you: 80% of your peers think CTV is a great branding tool, but only 20% see it as a performance marketing tool. This is interesting given that many studies have found that QR codes and other interactive ads are very effective for driving conversions. Perhaps this is an arbitrage opportunity that can be exploited; it's better to be the only QR code ad than one of many.
Shift to cookie-free targeting
Another key trend highlighted in the report is the shift to cookie-free targeting tactics. With the demise of third-party cookies and the rise of privacy regulation, marketers are actively seeking alternative solutions to maintain targeting effectiveness. By the end of 2025, 48% of marketers expect to rely primarily on cookie-free tactics such as contextual targeting and first-party data-driven strategies.
As you likely know, contextual targeting allows advertisers to reach audiences based on the content they consume, while first-party data-driven strategies use data collected directly from consumers, ensuring privacy compliance while maintaining targeting accuracy. In evaluating the survey's conclusion that contextual targeting will be the top strategy for survey respondents in 2025, keep in mind that Comscore's Proximic service, which sponsored the survey and report, delivers"Contextual Targeting, Reimagined.
The cookie apocalypse is the driving force behind contextual targeting.
This trend is further fuelled by the decline in ID-based impressions, with 54% of mobile impressions and 36% of desktop impressions lacking ID by the end of 2024. CTV impressions are also facing challenges, with 11% of impressions lacking ID, highlighting the need for privacy-focused solutions to effectively reach audiences. These shifts reflect a practical response to the increasing difficulty of using traditional ID-based methods.
What this means for you: if you're not already thinking about how to target ads without cookies, you're behind the curve. Nearly half of your colleagues are already using cookie-free tactics. There are a variety of ways to do this, including contextual targeting and strategies based on first-party data.
Deduplicated reach and frequency: comscore: ring around the collar
Deduplicated reach acts as a 'ring around the collar' for Comscore - a legitimate issue that ties directly into their marketing materials (see here, here, here and here). By highlighting the problem in the survey that your service (and only your service, as you phrase it) promises to solve, you have succeeded in positioning deduplicated reach as a critical differentiator.
While this issue is undeniably important in today's fragmented advertising environment, it's worth noting that most services already provide unique impression counts or tools to manage reach and frequency across platforms. The real challenge - and this is where Comscore wants to excel - is deduplicating reach across disparate ecosystems at scale. This differentiation makes it both a marketing move and a real value proposition for advertisers navigating increasingly complex campaigns.
What this means for you: make sure your programmatic partners are providing you with deduplicated reach and frequency metrics. These metrics are critical to understanding how your campaigns are performing and optimizing them successfully.
Conclusion
Comscore's State of Programmatic 2025 report provides invaluable insights into the forces shaping the future of programmatic advertising. Key findings from the report highlight the growing importance of CTV, the shift to cookie-free targeting tactics, and the increasing emphasis on deduplicated reach and frequency measurement. Marketers that stay ahead of these trends and adapt their strategies accordingly will be well positioned to thrive in the ever-evolving programmatic landscape.
Source: streamingmedia.com
