Video adtech provider Beachfront has launched in beta a pod bidding solution for connected TV ads. The solution allows publishers to programmatically sell an entire ad pod while pricing each ad differently and guaranteeing positions within the pod. Guaranteeing first position would be especially valuable for CTV publishers to be able to optimize for advertisers who are willing to pay a premium to be in the first slot of a pod.

Beachfront founder and president Frank Sinton told me in a briefing that this kind of preference has been available in a direct sale model for CTVs, but not in programmatic. Choosing first position has long been part of the traditional TV buying world, but Frank said that because a lot of the ad infrastructure used for CTV is based on desktop and mobile this capability has been missing. CTV advertising is growing strongly, with eMarketer forecasting over $10 billion in spending next year.

Beachfront’s pod bidding is built on Prebid, the open source solution which has gained industry appeal due to its transparency. Pod bidding would be available to 100+ demand partners across VAST, RTB and Prebid Adaptors. Frank also noted the efficiency gains pod bidding offers; by auctioning the whole pod, DSPs would receive far fewer ad requests, which Beachfront believes could speed up auction times by 37%. The pod bidding solution supports deduplication and competitive separation.

Frank also sees other advantages for DSPs, who could use pod bidding to create more advanced campaign strategies for clients and increase their success rates in competitively placing clients’ ads. They would also have more transparency to report to clients the exact position in the pod the ad ran in and use this data for future bidding strategies and pod optimization. Further down the road pods could be personalized based on viewer behaviors, like binge-watching and other factors.

CTV viewing is currently benefiting from the stay-at-home guidelines, and while that’s creating a surge in viewing, many advertisers are curtailing budgets in the face of reduced demand. In this environment, additional capabilities, like pod bidding, which enable flexibility, efficiencies and improved ROI, are going to be valuable.

Learn more about pod bidding and request a demo.

(Note: Beachfront is a VideoNuze sponsor and Silver partner for our Connected TV Advertising Summit on September 22.)