PubNative, a leading mobile monetisation platform and programmatic ad exchange, is expanding its product lineup with connected TV solution AdCast. The advanced product allows in-app ads to be streamed to a TV screen and is tailored to mobile-first publishers and advertisers. With the growing popularity of connected TVs and TV platforms such as Roku, Samsung and Amazon Fire, larger screen units are increasingly sought after advertisers, resulting in higher eCPMs for publishers.

PubNative’s AdCast, which supports casting to Chromecast, allows mobile app developers to expand their monetisation strategy and leverage their video content on larger screens. At the same time, AdCast allows advertisers to reach audiences when they are fully engaged with a new high definition format. In comparison to display ads on mobile devices, CTV ads are not plagued by problems such as banner blindness and perform better than most other formats in video completion rates.

PubNative is now testing AdCast with Streamkey, a major CTV platform, and Admixer Technologies, a full-stack programmatic player. Established over 5 years ago, StreamKey TV has grown to be a leading CTV channel developer, with dozens of owned and operated applications across all major streaming platforms and millions of dedicated viewers. Thanks to PubNative’s sister company Verve, AdCast can make use of the advanced technology of location audiences. Verve has previously worked with several publishers in the connected TV space, such as Samsung, Pluto TV, Fox News, Chive TV, Gray TV and others.

AdCast is primarily geared towards mobile-first publishers who are looking to expand their content and reach consumers across multiple screen sizes. It has three different video ad formats: pre-roll, mid-roll after 15 seconds, and post-roll.

AdCast inventory can be accessed programmatically by advertisers via OpenRTB PMPs or VAST tags. The only requirement for publishers is to have an existing video content unit within their mobile application.

eMarketer predicts that by 2020 up to 75% of households will be using a Connected TV in the US. Today’s CTV market is dominated by four big players, one being Chromecast, which has the fourth biggest market share of CTV streaming devices and is the easiest one to use. The device allows consumers to upgrade their TVs for under USD$50 (£40.34) instead of buying a new TV set. To date, approximately 55 million Chromecast devices have been sold worldwide.

The majority of the CTV audience is aged 25-44 and this group primarily uses mobile devices for content consumption. On top of that, mobile ads have risen to account for over 60% of all digital ad revenue, with this number growing each year. For the biggest group of CTV users, millennials, watching TV means streaming content through their internet-connected devices to a big home screen. When a user is streaming in-app mobile content through Chromecast, PubNative’s AdCast makes it possible for publishers to complement their current monetisation stack and allows advertisers to expand their reach to a unique pocket of inventory previously unavailable to them.

“With PubNative’s AdCast we can expand our inventory specifically to Chromecast and reach
even more users at the height of their attention. For us, it’s like killing two birds with one stone - improving the technology setup through PubNative and at the same time growing our inventory on Chromecast.” - Hanna Yatel, CMO, Admixer Technologies.

“The new product is particularly interesting as the mobile screen serves as a natural bridge to
the connected TV ecosystem. As the latter is growing rapidly, we want to leverage our
marketplace and publisher footprint to deliver the right ad, on the right device and to the right
audience. AdCast ad-units are complemented with best-in-class location-based mobile
audiences powered by Verve, bringing unique benefits in terms of household targeting or visits
measurement.” - Ionut Ciobotaru, Founder & CEO, PubNative.