Key Points:
- Viant becomes the first DSP to deliver scene-level contextual targeting in connected TV.
- The Wurl partnership adds oRTB access to premium FAST inventory with Brand Discovery signals.
- Advertisers can align creative with specific on-screen moments to boost engagement and ROAS.
Advertising technology firm Viant has announced a new integration with streaming platform Wurl that makes it the first demand-side platform (DSP) to offer scene-level contextual intelligence across connected television.
The new capability leverages IRIS.TV’s IRIS_ID system combined with Wurl Brand Discovery’s streaming signals and scene identification technology. Together, the tools allow advertisers to align campaigns with specific on-screen content in real time, giving marketers new opportunities to target viewers with greater relevance.
The launch also includes a new Open Real Time Bidding (oRTB) integration with Wurl, which provides advertisers access to premium free ad-supported streaming television inventory from leading publishers. This marks the first time Brand Discovery-enabled supply is available via direct oRTB in a DSP. The move is part of Viant’s supply path optimization strategy aimed at streamlining access to streaming inventory.
By combining Wurl’s content signals with Viant’s Household ID and identity graph (which the company says covers 95 percent of U.S. adults 18 and older) advertisers gain improved reach, contextual alignment and efficiency in connected TV, one of the fastest-growing sectors of digital advertising.
“As the first DSP to offer scene-level targeting and measurement capabilities, we are powering a new generation of privacy-safe, contextually relevant advertising that benefits the entire ecosystem,” said Tom Wolfe, the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Viant. “The partnership with Wurl helps fulfill our mission to drive meaningful outcomes for our advertisers, and across the CTV landscape by addressing persistent challenges like fragmented targeting, limited measurement and lack of content transparency.”
The partnership extends Wurl’s BrandDiscovery technology, which classifies each scene in a program by emotional tone and thematic content. Through IRIS.TV, those segments are now assigned IRIS_IDs at the scene level. Every Wurl impression is IRIS-enabled, giving advertisers the ability to target ads to narrative moments that may resonate more strongly with viewers.
The data is fully actionable within Viant’s DSP through the company’s IRIS-enabled Content Report and Pre-bid Targeting solution. That allows advertisers to evaluate top-performing creative at the scene level and optimize campaigns using Viant’s reporting tools.
According to the company, advertisers using Viant’s DSP will now be able to target and activate campaigns across scene-level emotional and contextual categories, access Wurl’s premium FAST inventory programmatically through oRTB, discover which content segments perform best, and measure performance through advanced analytics.
“Wurl’s mission includes unlocking greater value for both publishers and advertisers in the streaming ecosystem,” said Ria Madrid, the Vice President of Advertising Partnerships at Wurl. “With Brand Discovery and IRIS IDs enabled across the Wurl footprint and fully integrated into Viant’s DSP, a biddable contextual solution is now activated at unbelievable scale. Advertisers can reach streaming audiences while also aligning their creative with relevant content. Contextual relevance has been proven to drive results – better campaign performance and ROAS for advertisers, and incremental revenue for publishers.”
The integration comes as connected TV continues to attract more advertising dollars, with marketers seeking data-driven tools to improve targeting and performance while maintaining user privacy.
