In another sign of how important connected TVs are becoming for ad-supported content, supply-side platform SpotX announced this morning that it is offering advertisers enhanced audience measurement for ad campaigns on connected TV devices using Nielsen data.

Advertisers will be able to measure the unduplicated and incremental reach of their campaigns across SpotX campaigns on CTV alongside their traditional linear TV ads. Campaign measurement will include data on reach, frequency and GRPs of CTV ads. The Nielsen data will also be used for insights on CTV ads relative to desktop and mobile ads as well as linear TV.

SpotX believes it is the first time an SSP has used Nielsen data for CTV campaigns. Mike Shehan, co-founder and CEO of SpotX said that “trusted third-party measurement in CTV has historically been the number-one barrier to entry for advertisers.”

Proof Advertising, an Austin, TX agency will use the new solution for its tourism client Travel Texas to help reach incremental CTV audiences. 

eMarketer estimates in 2018 there will be 181.5 million CTV users in the U.S., which will increase to 194.4 million in 2021. Whereas CTVs were originally used primarily for streaming ad-free SVOD services like Netflix, more recently ad-supported content has grown the fastest. SpotX said last December that CTV ads were up 18x in the prior 12 months.

A critical emerging trend with CTVs is using them to watch over-the-top delivered skinny bundles, which themselves are growing rapidly. As with traditional TV, most skinny bundle content is ad-supported. Just yesterday YouTube said that CTV is its fastest-growing device category due to the growth of YouTube TV where it now accounts for 70% of watch time. To monetize this viewership, select YouTube TV ad inventory will become available for purchase through Google Preferred.