Unlocking Smarter CTV Activation: Nexxen Brings ACR Data to Google Display & Video
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black As Connected TV (CTV) viewership continues to fragment and competition for attention increases, advertisers are looking for faster, more intelligent ways to access premium inventory and activate high-value audiences. That’s why Nexxen teamed up with Google to bring our proprietary automatic content recognition (ACR) data and premium supply to Google Display & Video 360’s Instant Deals, becoming the first exchange partner to enable ACR-powered audience activation within the newly expanded feature. For advertisers and agencies, the collaboration opens a streamlined path to more performant CTV campaigns. Instant Deals allows buyers to quickly access quality inventory curated by exchange partners based on specific targeting needs, such as audience or content relevance. By integrating Nexxen’s ACR data into this workflow, advertisers gain deeper insight into what viewers are actually watching on their TVs, enabling smarter targeting and stronger campaign outcomes. Through this integration, Google Display & Video 360 buyers can now: Access Nexxen’s ACR-powered CTV inventory through a self-serve interface Request audience- or content-specific forecasts and activate deals instantly Reach engaged viewers using unique behavioral signals derived from TV viewing data Tap into Nexxen’s premium publishers’ and streaming platforms’ supply The opportunity extends across major global markets – including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany and Australia – helping advertisers scale campaigns while maintaining precision. Together with Google, we’re making it easier to unlock the full performance potential of CTV. Get in touch with Nexxen’s team to explore how these capabilities can support your next campaign today. Read Next Connect With Us Learn how you can effectively and meaningfully leverage today’s video and CTV opportunities with our end-to-end platform, data and insights. Contact Us
Building an Artifacts System for Our LLM Data Agents
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black At Nexxen, our engineering teams are constantly exploring how AI can enhance the way our users interact with advertising data. As part of our nexAI DSP Assistant – our AI-powered data assistant – we implemented the ability to let users query and analyze campaign performance metrics. The initial implementation worked well for single questions, but we quickly discovered a fundamental challenge that was frustrating our users. The Problem: When Every Question Starts from Scratch Our AI data agent was capable of generating SQL queries, fetching results from our data warehouse, and presenting insights to users. However, when users started asking follow-up questions, the system’s response times noticeably increased. Consider this scenario: a user asks, “Show me the spend and CPM for my campaigns during last Christmas.” The assistant queries the database, returns 500 rows of campaign data, and then the user sees a helpful summary. Then they ask a natural follow-up: “Filter that to just the top 10 by spend.” Without a memory system, our assistant was stuck between starting from scratch each time a user asked a follow-up question or having to “memorize” an entire dataset at once. The first option is slow, and because data updates constantly, the numbers may update between pulling information and creating inconsistencies. The second option could overwhelm the LLM because of the amount of information required to keep in its active focus. Neither approach delivered the seamless, conversational experience we wanted. We needed something smarter. The Core Insight: Store Big, Sample Small, Query on Demand Our solution emerged from a simple principle: separate what the AI needs to understand from what it needs to store. When a user asks for campaign data, they want to work with that dataset across multiple turns of conversation. But the AI doesn’t need to see every row to understand what the data represents. A small sample of just a few rows tells the LLM everything it needs to know about column names, data types, and the general shape of the information. The full dataset, meanwhile, can live elsewhere, ready to be queried when needed. This led us to what we call our “artifacts” system – a memory layer that gives our AI assistant persistent access to datasets without bloating the conversation context. Long-Term Storage Meets High-Speed Calculation Our artifacts system relies on two complementary technologies working together. To keep the system running smoothly, we use two different technologies that act like a digital filing cabinet and a high-speed calculator. PostgreSQL serves as our storage layer, where we save the results of every search as a flexible document. We give each set of data its own unique ID so the AI can easily find it later. We chose this specific storage method because it’s incredibly flexible; it doesn’t care if the data is a simple list of names or a complex table of metrics. This allows us to save any type of information without having to constantly rebuild the system’s underlying structure. When it’s time to actually work with that data – like filtering a list or calculating a total, we use DuckDB. Think of this as a temporary, high-speed workspace. Because this workspace is built for speed and handles complex math with ease, it can combine different sets of data or perform deep analysis in a fraction of a second. Once the task is finished, the workspace clears itself out, keeping the whole process clean and efficient. How It Works in Practice Let’s look at how this process feels for a user in real-time. Imagine that a user asks the AI a starting question: “Show me the spend for my marketing campaigns last week.” Behind the scenes, our assistant goes to the main data warehouse and pulls back a large table – let’s say 847 rows of performance data. Instead of trying to memorize all 847 rows, the system tucks the full table away into its “digital filing cabinet” and gives it a unique ID. What the AI actually keeps in its active memory is very minimal: just the ID number, the total row count, and a tiny three-row sample. This sample is just enough for the AI to understand what the data looks like – things like “campaign name,” “cost,” and “date.” When users follow up with a more specific request, like “Which of those campaigns had a low click rate?”, our assistant doesn’t need to go back to the beginning. It simply points to the ID in its filing cabinet and uses DuckDB to filter that specific list. In just a few milliseconds, the system creates a new, smaller list of just the campaigns the user asked for. This process can keep going for as long as the user needs it. Users can ask the AI to “sum the total cost” or “compare this to last month,” and it will keep referencing and refining those saved files. Each step is extremely fast and perfectly consistent, because the AI is always working from the same “source of truth” that it stored at the very beginning. The Benefits We’ve Observed Token efficiency improved dramatically. Instead of context windows filled with repetitive data rows, our conversations stay lean. The AI sees just enough to understand the data, freeing up context space for the actual conversation and reasoning. Data consistency became automatic. Users can now perform multi-step analyses confident that “the data they’re looking at” remains stable throughout their session. No more subtle inconsistencies from re-querying changing datasets. Complex workflows became possible. The ability to join multiple artifacts opened up sophisticated analytical patterns. Users can pull data from different time periods, different entity types, or different query paths, and combine them in ways that would be impractical with single-shot database queries. The architecture scales naturally. Because each artifact is a JSON document with a unique ID, we’re not constrained by predefined schemas. New types of queries and new data shapes work without system changes. Looking Forward Our artifacts system has become a foundational component of our
From Acquisition Fragmentation to Atlas: Building Unified Observability at Scale
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black Part 1: Our transformation journey from fragmented monitoring to a unified platform supporting 6,000 servers globally The Challenge: When Growth Creates Complexity At Nexxen, our platform is built both through internal development and strategic M&A. While each acquisition brings new talent and technology, it also brings new monitoring tools – InfluxDB, Graphite, scattered Prometheus instances. Prior to our recent phase of rapid expansion, we were primarily a Datadog shop, but as our data center footprint expanded globally, our monitoring costs were growing faster than our infrastructure. Every new server meant new metrics. Every new application meant new dashboards. Every new team meant new monitoring requirements. Our observability costs were growing rapidly. We faced a choice: accept ever-increasing monitoring expenses or find a better way. We knew we needed a change. Enter Project Atlas – our ambitious initiative to bring metrics and logs under one unified roof. The Vision: Best of Both Worlds But here’s where our story takes an interesting turn. Instead of the typical rip-and-replace approach that many companies take, we chose a different path. We looked at our existing tools with fresh eyes and asked: What if we kept the best parts and built something new for everything else? Datadog wasn’t the problem – it was excellent at network monitoring, APM, and those out-of-the-box integrations that just work. The problem was using it for everything. So, we made a strategic decision: keep Datadog for what it does best and build Project Atlas to handle the massive scale of metrics and logs that were driving our costs through the roof. This wasn’t just about consolidation – it was about reimagining what observability could look like. We envisioned a platform that could: Handle massive scale (spoiler: we’re now monitoring 35 million active series) Provide disaster resilience during data center outages Scale cost-effectively as we grow Serve as an internal SaaS for our global teams Complement our existing Datadog investment Our centerpiece for metrics? Grafana Mimir. It gave us the horizontally scalable, highly available backend needed to handle our ambitious requirements. For logs, we chose Grafana Loki—which we’ll cover in detail in Part 2 of this series. The Numbers That Tell Our Story Today, our Atlas platform monitors 6,000+ servers globally, tracking 35+ million active metric series through Grafana Mimir, while ingesting ~340 TB of logs monthly (~470 GB/hr average) through Grafana Loki. The Technical Journey: Building for Scale Architecture Decisions That Mattered We chose to host Mimir and Loki in AWS while keeping our applications in on-premises data centers. This wasn’t just about cloud-first thinking – it was about resilience and scalability. Why Cloud for Atlas We deployed Atlas in AWS to deliver a resilient, cloud‑like observability experience that scales with our growth. Hosting Mimir and Loki in the cloud ensures visibility during on‑prem data center outages, enables dynamic scaling for high‑cardinality workloads, and simplifies global access for teams. To keep performance and costs balanced at scale, we knew we needed to adopt smarter caching strategies that could increase capacity while reducing infrastructure spend. Together, these decisions provide Atlas with a scalable, cost‑effective foundation for both metrics and logs as data volumes continue to grow. The Breakthrough: Learning from Giants Sometimes the best solutions come from unexpected places. While researching caching strategies, we stumbled upon a fascinating blog post from Grafana Labs about how they scaled their cloud logs infrastructure to handle 50TB. They had faced a similar challenge: massive data volumes, cost pressures, and the need for reliable caching at scale. Their solution was elegant: instead of throwing expensive RAM at the problem, they used NVMe-backed storage with Memcached. The trade-off was simple but powerful: accept a few extra milliseconds of latency in exchange for dramatically larger cache capacity at a fraction of the cost. We had our aha moment. This wasn’t just about logs – we could apply the same principles to both our Mimir metrics and Loki logs caching. Instead of building complex data center infrastructure or paying premium prices for massive RAM-only caches, we could deploy Memcached clusters on NVMe-backed EC2 instances. The Results of this Approach: Massive capacity and higher hit rates: We achieved dramatically larger cache capacity and increased our cache hit rates at a fraction of the cost of RAM-only solutions. Significant cost savings: We eliminated expensive direct connect costs and removed our reliance on datacenter caching infrastructure. Simplified, reliable architecture: By reducing moving parts and network dependencies, we significantly improved overall system reliability. Unified, scalable foundation: We established a single caching approach for both metrics (Mimir) and logs (Loki) that can easily grow alongside our data volume. The Reality: Scale Requires Work Those impressive numbers didn’t happen overnight. Mimir’s distributed architecture is powerful but complex – what works at 1 million series often does not translate cleanly to 35 million. Through methodical testing and iteration, we found the balance of resources, timeouts, and limits that could handle our scale cost-effectively. Real-World Impact The results speak for themselves: engineers troubleshoot faster with unified data, operations get consistent practices globally, and the business has predictable costs with room to scale. This represents significant progress for a team that started with five disparate monitoring tools and escalating costs. Lessons Learned: What We’d Tell Our Past Selves Embrace hybrid strategies. Combining build‑and‑buy approaches allowed us to scale observability without sacrificing capabilities where commercial tools excel. Design for scale early. Understanding metric cardinality and growth patterns upfront was critical to building a platform that could grow sustainably. Optimize for efficiency, not perfection. Strategic trade‑offs such as smarter caching enabled us to control costs while maintaining reliability and performance. The Transformation: Progress, Not Perfection Today, when that 3 AM alert goes off, our story is different. We’re not claiming observability is solved—rather, Atlas represents meaningful progress. Instead of context-switching between five different platforms, our engineers now work with just two unified tools – Atlas and Datadog. It’s measurable progress, and it’s making a real difference. Project Atlas has fundamentally changed how we think about observability
Inclusion Lists Reduce Buyer Exposure to MFA Before Impressions are Served
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black MFA websites often outpace traditional blocklists, appearing and disappearing so quickly that advertisers often buy impressions before the sites are flagged. Jounce Media calls these “fleeting websites,” and they work like this: When an MFA site is flagged and blocked, a near-identical version often reappears under a new domain with the content and monetization strategy remaining the same, but the domain is new, with no history and no presence on blocklists nor audit tools. By the time that new domain is identified, spend has already occurred, and impressions have already been delivered. Jounce reports that in Q4 2025, newly launched websites accounted for roughly 2% of total web bid requests, representing a meaningful volume of impressions across the open web. Here at Nexxen, rather than relying on blocklists, we use inclusion lists to control how supply enters our SSP, so inventory is reviewed and scrutinized before impressions ever reach buyers. It is an approach that provides a more meaningful solution to decreasing advertiser exposure to MFA and combats fleeting websites head on. This methodology means that onboarding supply takes a little longer, but the payoff is well worth the wait. In fact, Jounce’s Chris Kane points out, “inclusion lists are a highly resilient solution for protecting buyers from fleeting MFA websites, and Nexxen’s long-standing adoption of a platform-wide inclusion lists demonstrates their commitment to marketplace quality. The broader industry would benefit from following Nexxen’s lead.” Using an inclusion list has made our supply as MFA-proof as possible. And, even when put on our inclusion list, our approved supply is not treated as static. Our lists are re-evaluated on a recurring basis, by a team of experts who work daily on platform health and safety and compliance to ensure that we are doing the best possible job of providing high-quality supply in our SSP. We combine internal review with third-party quality signals from partners such as Jounce, DeepSee and DoubleVerify. This overall approach helps ensure that Nexxen’s approved inventory continues to meet quality standards over time and that advertisers can rely on Nexxen supply to reach the audiences they need to reach. Read Next Connect With Us Learn how you can effectively and meaningfully leverage today’s video and CTV opportunities with our end-to-end platform, data and insights. Contact Us
The Most Underrated Ad Placement in TV Is Hiding in Plain Sight
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black When you turn on your TV to find the latest streaming show, have you noticed something different on your home screen? That big banner front and center that used to be reserved to promote a streamer’s newest show is now offering up a message from one of your favorite brands. And this under-the-radar spot on your TV home screen has quietly become one of the most valuable attention moments in the entire advertising ecosystem. As you flip, scroll, compare and debate what to watch next, you spend a decent amount of time searching on this screen. Industry data shows viewers can spend up to 10 minutes in this exploration mode. That’s 10 minutes of pure, intentional attention — not dual-screening nor half-listening while scrolling TikTok. Actual attention! It’s the first impression TV viewers see, and with it comes the opportunity to shape intent before they disappear into a walled garden with limited data, expensive ad inventory or limited measurement access. For marketers and brands, it represents prime-time ad real estate without prime-time ad clutter. Nexxen’s new CTV Native Marketplace capitalizes on this opportunity, enabling brands to reach engaged, captivated viewers programmatically. Through the exclusive partnerships we’ve built with OEMs across the industry, we’re able to offer brands something that’s hard to find virtually anywhere else: incremental reach and real attention. While other OEMs also offer similar solutions, they’re different profiles, different content habits and different economics, which means Nexxen’s solution provides true extension beyond the usual CTV players. The opportunity becomes even more elevated when you realize the engaging creative options available on the home screen, from full-screen takeovers to auto-play video, scrollable carousels and beyond. All of these native placements feel like part of the TV – fully integrated, different from an ad placed in the middle of programming. For categories like auto, entertainment, luxury or QSR, these creative formats pop in a way you simply cannot replicate on a phone or even inside of a streaming app. Reach and frequency amplification, as well as incremental reach, are some of the primary applications for this type of inventory. And it’s worthwhile to find partners who operate end-to-end stacks with unique data, to get consistent, clean paths to analyze what’s working and what to do next. So, the next time you’re deciding what to watch on TV, think as a marketer who has the chance to win the room before a show even starts. Ultimately, that’s what all this really comes down to. When someone turns on their TV, they’re fully engaged for a few rare minutes – not distracted, not skipping or trapped in an app. With the right data, access and tech, brands can take advantage of this powerful moment. And the brands who understand that the TV home screen is the new battleground for attention will be the first to win. Read Next Connect With Us Learn how you can effectively and meaningfully leverage today’s video and CTV opportunities with our end-to-end platform, data and insights. Contact Us
Life at Nexxen with Yair Shilo
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black Life at Nexxen is a blog series spotlighting our employees – from their career journeys and go-to advice to the rituals and activities that make up their days here at Nexxen. In this edition of Life at Nexxen, we spoke with Yair Shilo, a Product Manager based in our Tel Aviv office. How did your journey at Nexxen start? I joined Taptica in 2017 in Publisher Relations, supporting mobile UA. That role gave me foundational exposure to adtech, supply dynamics, and performance-driven buying. I later transitioned into Tremor Video DSP as a Programmatic Trader, eventually managing and directing teams. Those years shaped my product philosophy: capabilities should accelerate decision-making, not slow it down. What led you from Director of Programmatic Operations into Product? I’ve always been drawn to removing operational friction. If something is repetitive or slows teams down, I immediately start thinking about how to streamline or automate it. Over time, I became a natural bridge between Ops and Product, translating pain points into solutions and helping validate improvements. Moving into Product allowed me to scale that impact across all users, not just a single team. Can you describe the DSP org and your role within it? Our DSP Product organization is split across UX and runtime. I sit within the UX group, owning reporting, analytics, and the core DSP UI workflows. My work focuses on turning complex programmatic data into actionable insights and designing flows that help traders move faster, make better decisions, and avoid costly mistakes. I collaborate closely with engineering and design as well as other PMs to define problems, shape solutions, and ship capabilities that streamline the campaign lifecycle. I believe in keeping teams flat and collaborative so decisions move quickly and context stays close to the people building the product. How do Product Managers work with Engineering at Nexxen? I partner with a dedicated, domain-focused engineering team called FLY. My role is to translate user and business needs into clear requirements, prototype solutions directly, often using Vibe coding, and work with design on the final user experience. Engineering brings technical insight and feasibility checks, and together we iterate until we land on a solution that addresses the underlying problem, not just the initial request. A flat, open working style, supported by AI-assisted tools, helps us iterate faster and stay aligned. How do Product teams source and use user feedback? We collect feedback through direct conversations, internal teams, feature requests, structured UX sessions, and surveys. The hard part isn’t collecting feedback – it’s prioritizing it. I look for patterns that impact workflow efficiency, clarity, or performance. When multiple signals point to the same friction point, that becomes a priority. My focus is on filtering noise and ensuring we address the issues that truly matter. You were involved in the Tremor – Amobee DSP consolidation. What helped you and your team complete that project? The consolidation was one of the most challenging and high-impact efforts I’ve worked on. We had to merge workflows and standardize operations across two DSPs while keeping active campaigns healthy. We succeeded because of strong cross-functional alignment and a willingness to challenge legacy assumptions when they held the platform back. It required focus, trust, and a shared belief in building something better. Do you have a routine that helps you start or end your workday? My mornings always starts with a cup of coffee, and syncing with my engineering partners. Quick hallway conversations with other PMs often solve problems faster than formal meetings. How do you spend your time outside of work? Most of my time goes to my four kids: a 7-year-old, a 5-year-old, and 1-year-old twins. When I get a rare quiet moment, you’ll usually find me running, watching almost any elite sports I can find, or losing myself in a TV series a puzzle, or a quick brain game. I used to travel and play guitar more often, but these days, squeezing in those passions feels like a little victory. A closing thought? I believe every problem has a solution. I like to challenge existing paradigms, cut through noise, and break down complex challenges together with the people closest to the work. I’m lucky to work with incredibly bright, fun people who make the tough problems energizing rather than overwhelming. That’s what motivates me. Building capabilities that create real impact, and today, with AI and new tools, there’s an even greater opportunity to do so. Read Next Connect With Us Learn how you can effectively and meaningfully leverage today’s video and CTV opportunities with our end-to-end platform, data and insights. Contact Us
How We’re Solving Southeast Asia’s Measurement Challenge
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black As Connected TV (“CTV”) reshapes the manner in which audiences engage with content, one piece of advertising real estate is emerging as a powerful gateway for brand discovery: the Smart TV home screen. In this Q&A, we speak with Amit Dadush, Managing Director at VIDAA, and Ally Appelbaum, Vice President, Global CTV Partnerships at Nexxen, to explore the value of these placements — from design and targeting, to user experience and creative strategy — and what brands need to know to get the most out of them. Amit Dadush Managing Director VIDAA Ally Appelbaum Vice President, Global CTV Partnerships Nexxen Let’s start with the basics—why are Smart TV native placements becoming such a coveted space for advertisers today? Amit: At the end of the day, it comes down to attention. When people land on the CTV home screen, they’re not scrolling aimlessly — they’re focused on choosing what to watch. That makes it one of the few environments where you have undivided, intentional engagement. Add to that the size and prominence of the TV in the living room, and you’ve got a placement that naturally carries weight for advertisers. Ally: Think about it — before someone hits play, they’re actively browsing. Nielsen says viewers spend over 10 minutes on these screens deciding what to watch. That’s a huge window of attention. If your brand shows up during that moment of decision-making, in a space that feels natural to the TV experience, you meet viewers when they’re most open to discovering something new. How do you balance the need for impactful advertising with maintaining a seamless and user-friendly experience on the home screen? Amit: We flip the script. Legacy TV advertising was a blunt instrument, and our model is built on precision. By using data to ensure the right ad reaches the right household at the right time, we serve fewer, more relevant ads. This isn’t a balance; it’s an upgrade. It transforms advertising from an interruption into a valuable part of the experience. Ally: I agree, relevance is everything. With Nexxen’s suite of audience targeting solutions including exclusive access to VIDAA ACR data, we can make sure ads feel engaging to the independent viewer rather than feeling out of place or intrusive. And when the creative is designed to blend with the environment, it doesn’t disrupt browsing — it enhances the experience by surfacing content or products that fit in the moment, so no impression is wasted. From a data and targeting standpoint, what makes Smart TV native placement ads so valuable? Ally: What makes these placements so valuable is the transparency you get from them. Because they’re tied to ACR data, advertisers don’t just know their message was shown — they can actually see how households respond, what drives engagement and how that ties back to outcomes. It turns these touchpoints into a measurable, data-rich part of the campaign, not just a branding play. Amit: I’d build on that by saying it’s also about timing. These placements show up right at the moment when people are deciding what to watch. Before they’ve opened an app or picked a show, they’re more open to discovery — which makes this the point of maximum influence. Other ads come later in the journey; Smart TV native placements sit right at the entrance. How do you see the role of native placements evolving as CTV platforms become more personalized and content-rich? Amit: Its role will only become more central. The home screen will evolve from a static menu into a dynamic, intelligent curator. It will anticipate what you want to watch based on who’s in the room and the time of day. Advertising will seamlessly integrate into these personalized recommendations, becoming a service that helps you discover new content, not just a promotion. Ally: From our side, the exciting part is how the data will evolve right along with it. As these placements get more personalized, the signals we can capture — like viewing patterns, time-of-day habits, even content preferences — give advertisers a much clearer picture of what’s working. That means campaigns won’t just be more relevant for viewers, they’ll also be smarter for brands, with data feeding back into targeting and measurement in near real time. It’s personalization that benefits both sides. Are there any misconceptions advertisers have about Smart TV native placement inventory or its impact? Ally: I think one misconception is that these placements are just background noise — like digital billboards on a screen. People spend time here making decisions, and that means they notice what’s in front of them. Another one I hear is that ads in this space feel intrusive, but when the creative is designed well and the targeting is on point, it actually feels like part of the experience. Amit: I’d add that some advertisers underestimate how active this environment really is. These placements influence what people choose to watch or download in the moment, and we have the data to show the lift they create — whether that’s brand consideration or direct action. They’re far from a “nice-to-have.” They can be a pivotal part of the path to conversion. VIDAA has seen impressive global growth. How does this scale influence the opportunities you offer advertisers—and how does your collaboration with Nexxen unlock even more value? Amit: Scale is everything. It’s what transforms a good idea into a powerhouse. Our global footprint means we’re not just offering a niche audience; we’re providing access to a massive, diverse and engaged viewership. More devices mean more premium inventory and, crucially, a richer pool of data to ensure precise targeting without sacrificing scale. That’s precisely why our partnership with Nexxen is so critical. Our philosophy at VIDAA is to master the platform — to build the best possible operating system and hardware. By integrating Nexxen’s best-in-class advertising technology directly into our platform, we empower them to do what they do best: unlock the full value of this inventory for advertisers. This isn’t just a
Q&A: VIDAA and Nexxen on Unlocking Smart TV Advertising
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black As Connected TV (“CTV”) reshapes the manner in which audiences engage with content, one piece of advertising real estate is emerging as a powerful gateway for brand discovery: the Smart TV home screen. In this Q&A, we speak with Amit Dadush, Managing Director at VIDAA, and Ally Appelbaum, Vice President, Global CTV Partnerships at Nexxen, to explore the value of these placements — from design and targeting, to user experience and creative strategy — and what brands need to know to get the most out of them. Amit Dadush Managing Director VIDAA Ally Appelbaum Vice President, Global CTV Partnerships Nexxen Let’s start with the basics—why are Smart TV native placements becoming such a coveted space for advertisers today? Amit: At the end of the day, it comes down to attention. When people land on the CTV home screen, they’re not scrolling aimlessly — they’re focused on choosing what to watch. That makes it one of the few environments where you have undivided, intentional engagement. Add to that the size and prominence of the TV in the living room, and you’ve got a placement that naturally carries weight for advertisers. Ally: Think about it — before someone hits play, they’re actively browsing. Nielsen says viewers spend over 10 minutes on these screens deciding what to watch. That’s a huge window of attention. If your brand shows up during that moment of decision-making, in a space that feels natural to the TV experience, you meet viewers when they’re most open to discovering something new. How do you balance the need for impactful advertising with maintaining a seamless and user-friendly experience on the home screen? Amit: We flip the script. Legacy TV advertising was a blunt instrument, and our model is built on precision. By using data to ensure the right ad reaches the right household at the right time, we serve fewer, more relevant ads. This isn’t a balance; it’s an upgrade. It transforms advertising from an interruption into a valuable part of the experience. Ally: I agree, relevance is everything. With Nexxen’s suite of audience targeting solutions including exclusive access to VIDAA ACR data, we can make sure ads feel engaging to the independent viewer rather than feeling out of place or intrusive. And when the creative is designed to blend with the environment, it doesn’t disrupt browsing — it enhances the experience by surfacing content or products that fit in the moment, so no impression is wasted. From a data and targeting standpoint, what makes Smart TV native placement ads so valuable? Ally: What makes these placements so valuable is the transparency you get from them. Because they’re tied to ACR data, advertisers don’t just know their message was shown — they can actually see how households respond, what drives engagement and how that ties back to outcomes. It turns these touchpoints into a measurable, data-rich part of the campaign, not just a branding play. Amit: I’d build on that by saying it’s also about timing. These placements show up right at the moment when people are deciding what to watch. Before they’ve opened an app or picked a show, they’re more open to discovery — which makes this the point of maximum influence. Other ads come later in the journey; Smart TV native placements sit right at the entrance. How do you see the role of native placements evolving as CTV platforms become more personalized and content-rich? Amit: Its role will only become more central. The home screen will evolve from a static menu into a dynamic, intelligent curator. It will anticipate what you want to watch based on who’s in the room and the time of day. Advertising will seamlessly integrate into these personalized recommendations, becoming a service that helps you discover new content, not just a promotion. Ally: From our side, the exciting part is how the data will evolve right along with it. As these placements get more personalized, the signals we can capture — like viewing patterns, time-of-day habits, even content preferences — give advertisers a much clearer picture of what’s working. That means campaigns won’t just be more relevant for viewers, they’ll also be smarter for brands, with data feeding back into targeting and measurement in near real time. It’s personalization that benefits both sides. Are there any misconceptions advertisers have about Smart TV native placement inventory or its impact? Ally: I think one misconception is that these placements are just background noise — like digital billboards on a screen. People spend time here making decisions, and that means they notice what’s in front of them. Another one I hear is that ads in this space feel intrusive, but when the creative is designed well and the targeting is on point, it actually feels like part of the experience. Amit: I’d add that some advertisers underestimate how active this environment really is. These placements influence what people choose to watch or download in the moment, and we have the data to show the lift they create — whether that’s brand consideration or direct action. They’re far from a “nice-to-have.” They can be a pivotal part of the path to conversion. VIDAA has seen impressive global growth. How does this scale influence the opportunities you offer advertisers—and how does your collaboration with Nexxen unlock even more value? Amit: Scale is everything. It’s what transforms a good idea into a powerhouse. Our global footprint means we’re not just offering a niche audience; we’re providing access to a massive, diverse and engaged viewership. More devices mean more premium inventory and, crucially, a richer pool of data to ensure precise targeting without sacrificing scale. That’s precisely why our partnership with Nexxen is so critical. Our philosophy at VIDAA is to master the platform — to build the best possible operating system and hardware. By integrating Nexxen’s best-in-class advertising technology directly into our platform, we empower them to do what they do best: unlock the full value of this inventory for advertisers. This isn’t just a
Nexxen: Future-Ready Advertising Solutions for the Cookieless, Cross-Screen, and AI Era
From 0 to 60: Building a Longstanding Brand with the World’s Fastest Sport From 0 to 60: Building a Longstanding Brand with the World’s Fastest Sport
How Nexxen Reaches Fans in a Fragmented NFL Sports Landscape
Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black Around the world, fans increasingly search for clarity on how to watch NFL games. With rights scattered across linear TV and a growing mix of CTV platforms, many fans struggle just to find the action. Nexxen’s Inside Live Sports report reveals the challenge: 59% of fans say they struggle to find where games are airing, and half admit they’ve even missed games because they didn’t know where to watch. Add subscription fatigue and a growing crowd of frustrated viewers, and it’s clear: fragmentation is sapping the fan experience, and with it, advertisers’ ability to connect. At the same time, NFL fandom is evolving. Nexxen Discovery shows a +40% spike in highlight clips and memes on TikTok and YouTube, while fantasy football, betting and real-time stats drive second-screen behaviors during live games. Pop culture and celebrity-driven content are also bringing in new audiences. In short, NFL engagement is no longer confined to gameday. It’s now everywhere, all week long. Football: The Anchor Sport Despite the confusion, one sport unites audiences: football. It’s the top driver of CTV subscriptions, with fans making sure NFL games are part of their viewing lineup. At the same time, the NFL continues to dominate traditional TV with 78% of Gen X and nearly 40% of Gen Z still tuning in. Advertisers also benefit from unified reach, with ad campaigns running consistently across both linear and streaming environments. This combination makes NFL matchups like Sunday Night Football, the Playoffs, and the Super Bowl rare cultural moments where fans show up en masse across devices, platforms, and screens. Fans are Ready for Ads It’s not just about reach; it’s about resonance. Live sports fans, and especially superfans, are more responsive to advertising than the general population, driving the strongest lift in purchase intent. When campaigns are strategically placed around NFL content, brands can tap into that heightened responsiveness and convert passion into performance. And emotion matters: ads that evoke warmth and happiness deliver the biggest lower funnel lift among live sports fans. Combine the NFL’s emotionally charged environment with creative that leans into family, camaraderie, or humor, and the impact multiplies. Turning Fragmentation into Focus The NFL provides the anchor moments where fans rally together, while fandom itself has expanded into a multi-screen, always-on experience. To meet fans wherever they’re engaging, whether during a live game, scrolling TikTok highlights or checking fantasy stats, brands need converged strategies that unify fragmented viewing and connect across screens. For advertisers, this complexity is also the opportunity. By unifying campaigns across screens, aligning creative to different types of fans and tying activations to measurable outcomes, Nexxen helps brands turn evolving fandom into lasting impact. Get in the Game with Nexxen NFL 360 Get Nexxen’s Inside Live Sports report Read Next Connect With Us Learn how you can effectively and meaningfully leverage today’s video and CTV opportunities with our end-to-end platform, data and insights. Contact Us