Tim Ware on the Future of ID-less CTV Advertising

1. How do you plan to achieve effective audience targeting without relying on device IDs or cookies?

a. In the Future Today Marketplace, we’re leaning into contextual signals and predictive audience targeting that utilizes AI and machine learning. Our approach blends high-quality, addressable first-party data with privacy-compliant third-party data and real-time signals like geography and time of day. This enables us to model and reach intent-driven audiences in smarter, more scalable ways.

b. We’re also working closely with leading data partners such as IRIS.TV / Viant, AnokiTV, and Proximic to enhance our signal inputs and optimize performance. The result is smarter targeting that respects user privacy while delivering stronger KPIs and measurable outcomes for brands.

2. What level of transparency can advertisers expect when buying inventory through the marketplace? 

Transparency is becoming a bigger need and opportunity between the buy and sell side. For starters, visibility into various platforms and data partners are of greater interest on both sides to ensure partners that targeting and measurement can be verified, and campaigns optimized to drive greater outcomes.  On the buy side, advertisers feel there is a   lack of transparency at the show level. Buyers are requesting more show level transparency to better understand and gain more insights about their ad placement and correlate campaign results with that information. Our goal is to ensure advertisers have the visibility they need to make informed decisions and achieve meaningful outcomes. The Future Today Marketplace directly addresses this by masking PII while offering unparalleled visibility into brand-suitable content. Our marketplace provides data granularity down to individual programs, giving advertisers the confidence and show-level insights they need to validate placements and optimize performance. Whether campaigns rely on ID-less, privacy-compliant signals or require show-level reporting, Future Today delivers the transparency necessary to run effective, results-driven campaigns.

3. Can advertisers customize their campaigns based on content genre, sentiment, or viewer demographics?

a. Yes. Advertisers have access to capabilities across content genre, sentiment, and audience demographics within our ecosystem. Through our partners IRIS.TV and Anoki, we offer sentiment-based targeting that allows brands to align their ads with the tone and mindset of consumers with the content they’re watching. Predictive targeting solutions from providers like Proximic enable audience segmentation based on modeled viewer demographics, even in ID-less environments. Future Today is also pioneering ways to measure emotional sentiment of ads within its CTV apps. 

b. Additionally, we’re working with MRI to develop inventory models that identify and index strongly against key audience segments such as multicultural viewers to unlock even more refined and impactful targeting opportunities. This level of customization ensures campaigns are not only brand-suitable, but also reaching the audiences that matter most.

4. What distinguishes the marketplace’s programmatic capabilities from standard SSP integrations?

a. The Future Today Marketplace offers seamless interoperability with leading CTV SSPs including Magnite, PubMatic, and Index Exchange enabling advertisers to activate campaigns through their preferred DSPs or direct IO with ease.

b. As a CTV publisher, Future Today can customize its PMP levers to align with our buyers KPI’s. If a buyer is looking to utilize contextual/predictive audience targets, we can support that through privacy-compliant data solutions such as IRIS, Anoki and Proximic by ComScore. When we do not pass legacy ID’s, it allows us to apply targeting to households with families and provide reporting with show level information, and incorporate advanced measurement on our campaigns ROAS. Unlike a CTV Marketplace that can be purchased as one-to-many (pubs) through a platform, Future Today can provide more information to allow its direct buyers greater visibility and intelligence on the outcomes our advertising drove.

5. Can advertisers track campaign outcomes in near real-time? If so, through which reporting tools or dashboards?

Depending on the KPIs being measured, advertisers can access campaign outcomes such as foot traffic, searches, purchase behavior and more in near real-time through a variety of best-in-class measurement partners including  EDO, iSpotTV, NCSolutions, and others.

6. How are advertisers responding to the ID-less approach—are you seeing increased adoption?

a. Yes, we’re seeing growing activity and increased interest in ID-less targeting, as more buyers  adopt these practices to drive greater performance and benefit from the privacy guardrails. We’re actively enabling these opportunities through leading SSPs including Magnite, Index Exchange, and PubMatic, and deepening collaboration with top DSPs that are seeking more precise, outcome-driven solutions for their CTV investments.

b. What’s especially compelling is that contextual and predictive targeting strategies that are central to ID-less activation are often outperforming traditional methods. The privacy-compliant nature of these approaches isn’t just a safeguard; it’s performance enhancing. It allows for greater transparency, unlocks access to high-quality inventory like family and kids programming, and opens up a broader range of optimization levers that drive stronger campaign results.