Report: CTV Accounts for 50% of Ad Views Across Europe

Why It Matters

The shift toward CTV and AI‑enabled programmatic buying reshapes revenue models for premium video, offering advertisers more precise reach and publishers higher monetisation potential.

Key Takeaways

• CTV delivers half of Europe's video ad views
• European CTV ad views grew 33% YoY
• Programmatic accounts for 22% of European ad views
• Metadata enrichment used in 53% of site fields
• Behavioural targeting leads programmatic in Europe

Pulse Analysis

Connected TV’s rapid ascent reflects broader consumer migration to streaming, and the FreeWheel data underscores that shift with CTV now accounting for half of all video ad impressions in Europe. The 33% year‑over‑year growth in European CTV ad views signals that advertisers are allocating budgets to platforms that combine large audiences with the precision of digital targeting. AI‑driven buying platforms are central to this momentum, streamlining inventory access and reducing friction between publishers and brands, which in turn accelerates spend on premium inventory.

Programmatic advertising is also gaining traction, now representing 22% of European ad views and 33% in the US. The rise in unique programmatic advertisers—up 21%—highlights a diversifying buyer pool seeking scalable, data‑rich campaigns. Enhanced metadata, such as the widely adopted "AppBundle" and "Genre" fields, improves inventory transparency and bidding efficiency, though many metadata categories remain underutilised, presenting an opportunity for further value extraction. Notably, European advertisers favour behavioural targeting (60%) over demographic, contrasting with US preferences, indicating regional nuances in audience strategy.

For the industry, these trends suggest a more consolidated, technology‑centric marketplace where AI and data quality dictate success. Publishers that invest in robust metadata and AI‑enabled supply‑side solutions can unlock higher yields, while advertisers that harness CTV’s expansive reach and programmatic precision will achieve stronger ROI. As fragmentation diminishes and trust builds through automation, the streaming ecosystem is poised for sustained growth and deeper integration of advanced targeting capabilities.