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title: "Over-the-Top (OTT) Best Practices"
canonical: "https://hub.freewheel.tv/space/BC/114688163/Over-the-Top%20(OTT)%20Best%20Practices"
format: markdown
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Overview Over-the-top (OTT) refers to services that distribute television and media content online as standalone products, separate from traditional cable companies. Similarly, connected TV (CTV) distributes content via the internet but delivers it either natively on a TV (such as a smart TV) or on an external device (such as a Roku or Chromecast). Many OTT services are available to use on CTV. For example, a show from Hulu can be streamed on a Chromecast. Both OTT and CTV are expanding spaces for programmatic advertising, creating new opportunities to reach a uniquely targeted audience. Please let your Customer Success Manager know if you are interested in accessing this inventory.  How it Works Specific best practices and recommendations are listed below. Placement Type (include):  Video Device Type (include):  Connected TV, Set Top Box Inventory (include):  Deal ID Do Don't Targeting Buy OTT placements through a private deal ID Add OTT to pre-targeting configuration and create separate line items targeting connected TV and game consoles via Device Type, Brand, Model Target pre-roll and mid-roll content via the “Playback Method” field Use pre-existing targeting line items used for other targeting (mobile, tablet, etc.) Target above the fold or post-roll Use 3P Viewability vendors--they don’t work with CTV Audience Targeting Limited 1st- and 3rd-party data is available in OTT, so expect limited scale if you choose to use it. IP address-based audiences are the most viable approach. Use user ID-based audience targeting, as they are not generally supported on OTT Context If using a custom bidding agent, use the publisher content and context information passed in bid request Use most contextual targeting. Signals such as content attributes, app name, app ID, full episode player, etc. have little or no coverage at all Performance Use relevant KPIs to optimize towards, such as completion rate and CPCV Optimize towards irrelevant KPIs such as CTR or CPC Format Use VAST and high-quality MP4 Use VPAID, MRAID, FLV, WEBM formats . These are not accepted on CTVs Creative Use creative up to 30s non-skippable Use creative >30s or skippable ads Declare a Video API in Buzz. Most CTV requests do not carry a Video API, as they support only basic VAST. Frequency Capping Use IP Fallback Frequency Capping to ensure maximum coverage for frequency capping N/A Brand Safety N/A Use 3P brand safety solutions, as most will not work in CTV due to lack of data