FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising
Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
by James Nail
November 30, 2015
Why Read This Report
Key Takeaways
In our 21-criteria evaluation of video advertising
demand-side platform (DSP) providers, we
identified the 10 most significant vendors and
researched, analyzed, and scored them. This
report shows how each provider measures up
and helps B2C marketing professionals make the
right choice.
TubeMogul, Videology, And The Trade Desk
Lead The Pack
Forrester’s research uncovered a market in which
TubeMogul, Videology, and The Trade Desk are
leaders. AOL, BrightRoll, DataXu, Google, Tremor
Video, Turn, and Viant offer competitive options.
Cross-Screen Capabilities And Assurance Of
Inventory Quality Drive Video Ad DSP Growth
The video advertising DSP market is growing
because more B2C marketing professionals see
these platforms as a way to take advantage of the
explosive growth of digital video consumption.
Marketers need a technology platform that
helps them manage an increasingly complex
video environment, where viewing behaviors
fragmented across devices, ad fraud, and
viewability are key issues.
Television Capabilities Differentiate The Video
Advertising DSP Market
As consumer viewing of television and video
content continues to diversify across devices,
vendors that can help advertisers stitch together
their desired audience will lead the pack. Vendors
that can provide inventory from all types of video
viewing and can integrate TV planning with digital
video to fill audience gaps will earn a share of
advertisers’ television and digital video budgets.
FORRESTER.COM
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms,
Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
by James Nail
with Luca S. Paderni, Brigitte Majewski, Richard Joyce, Rebecca McAdams, and Laura
Glazer
November 30, 2015
Table Of Contents
2 Marketers Must Follow Consumers As They
Embrace Digital Video
A Fragmenting Video Landscape Requires
New Media Strategies
Advertisers Embrace Digital Video For Reach,
Flexibility, And Measurement
Advertisers Seek A Solution To Manage
Complex Video Campaign Execution Needs
8 Video Advertising DSP Evaluation Overview
Advertisers Focus On Inventory Quality And
Cross-Screen Capabilities
Evaluated Vendors Give The Buy-Side
Comprehensive Video Ad Features
Notes & Resources
Forrester conducted product evaluations in
September 2015 of nine vendor companies and
surveyed a total of 82 client references among
their customers. The evaluated companies are
AOL, DataXu, The Trade Desk, Tremor Video,
TubeMogul, Turn, Viant, Videology, and Yahoo
BrightRoll. In addition, we evaluated Google’s
DoubleClick Bid Manager, although the firm opted
not to be a participating vendor.
Related Research Documents
Digital Disruption Rattles The TV Ad Market
How Software Is Eating Video Ads And, Soon, TV
Making Sense Of The Video Ad Ecosystem
9 Leaders Support Planning And Execution Of
Both TV And Digital Video
11 Vendor Profiles
Leaders
Strong Performers
15 Supplemental Material
Forrester Research, Inc., 60 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140 USA
+1 617-613-6000 | Fax: +1 617-613-5000 | forrester.com
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester®,
Technographics®, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester
Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Unauthorized copying or
distributing is a violation of copyright law. Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
Marketers Must Follow Consumers As They Embrace Digital Video
Video’s sight-sound-motion delivery of emotionally engaging brand stories has long been the gold
standard in advertising. But, as consumers embrace new ways of watching video content, advertisers
can’t rely on old planning approaches to deliver the reach that they were used to with TV. This is
even truer now that video is freed from limitations of the broadcast and cable distribution. In the 21st
century, all advertisers need to learn how to use digital video to achieve their marketing and branding
objectives. Combined with the advent of programmatic buying, advertisers need new technology tools
to help them plan, buy, execute, and measure video campaigns across the entire spectrum of video
content and devices.
A Fragmenting Video Landscape Requires New Media Strategies
Video is booming. With devices, bandwidth, and new video content formats at their fingertips,
consumers’ video entertainment is breaking free from the television set. This challenges both traditional
television and online display advertisers as:
›› Television upfront spending declines for a third year. Upfront sales of television ads have
historically been a story of ever-increasing year-over-year sales until recently. For the 2015
to 2016 season, upfront ad sales declined 3%, according to Media Dynamics.1 The media
consultant firm notes this is the third straight year of declines for broadcast networks and the
second for cable networks.
›› Viewing on digital devices explodes. Observations that younger viewers increasingly watch
video on their smartphones and laptops are one driver fueling the declines in upfront spending.
Forrester’s Consumer Technographics® data shows that 90% of online Millennials watch at least
some TV online on a weekly basis versus only 58% of older adults.2 Meanwhile, video platform
provider Ooyala reports that viewing on mobile devices accounted for 44% of over-the-top video
viewing among its customers in the second quarter of 2015.3
›› But viewability and fraud issues plague digital video ad opportunities. While online display
advertising has battled viewability and fraud for years, the higher costs per thousand (CPMs) for
video make it an even more appealing target for fraudsters. The Association of National Advertisers
in collaboration with fraud detection firm White Ops found that one-quarter of video ads were the
result of bot fraud, twice the rate for display ads.4
Advertisers Embrace Digital Video For Reach, Flexibility, And Measurement
Advertisers have long favored television because its ability to deliver sight-sound-motion ads tells a
more engaging brand story. More recently, they have been quick to add online video to their advertising
plans, making video advertising the fastest growing ad format through 2019.5 In addition to better
message communication compared to banners and other online ad formats, advertisers see digital
video’s potential for:
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
2
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
›› Recapturing elusive audiences. The TV ratings declines are a symptom of a measurement
system lagging changes in consumer viewing behavior, not consumers abandoning the network
content they have long loved. In announcing the availability of its total audience measurement
tool in December 2015, Nielsen noted that for one unnamed broadcaster’s drama program, only
15% of viewers aged 25 to 34 watched the episode live at the scheduled air time while 18% timeshifted their viewing to watch on a PC, tablet, or smartphone.6 Nielsen executive vice president
Megan Clarken summed up these changes saying, “Live and DVR is very dominant in the older
demographics, very less predominant in the younger demographics.”
›› More automated and precise buying. Advertisers have embraced programmatic buying for online
display advertising because it automates otherwise laborious negotiations and enables the use of
data to deliver ads only to viewers who precisely match their target. Having gotten a taste of this
capability in display advertising, brands are pressing media companies to offer these benefits in
their video content as well.7
›› Better accountability. Broadcast television’s power is somewhat blunted by its mass nature: the
advertising planner only has broad demographic data about who is watching the programming.
As more video is streamed at the request of individual viewers, planners have better data not only
about each viewer, but about the impact of the actions that viewer takes as a result. Multitouch
attribution studies combining the individual viewer data from comScore, Nielsen, and Rentrak with
relevant purchase data from firms like Datalogix, IHS Automotive, and brands’ CRM databases are
becoming more commonplace.
Advertisers Seek A Solution To Manage Complex Video Campaign Execution Needs
As part of this Forrester Wave evaluation, Forrester fielded an online survey to 82 customers of the
platforms included in this evaluation to understand how they manage cross-screen video buys, what
capabilities they value most today, and what they expect from video platforms in the future. These
users of video advertising DSPs told us:
›› Television and online video are increasingly planned together. About one-third of respondents
told us that a single group handles planning and buying of both television and online ads (see
Figure 1). But another 39% said that while different groups manage television and digital video,
they jointly plan and execute campaigns. Only about one-quarter said digital video was totally
independent of television advertising or that they only run digital video campaigns. Planning and
buying online video that best complements a TV ad schedule requires specialized data and tools.
›› Today’s advertisers want tools that give quality, flexibility, and control. Like programmatic
display advertising, video advertising engages a complex ecosystem of technologies. It also
requires different buying processes depending on the “premium” nature of the ad inventory.8 When
asked about the video marketing capabilities they currently use, at least 50 survey respondents
selected 15 from a list of 21 (see Figure 2). Since digital video is vulnerable to the same
unscrupulous practices that plague display advertising, and because video prices are higher than
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
3
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
display, advertisers currently use capabilities to measure viewability, avoid fraudulent inventory, and
screen out potentially offensive content. Advertisers also look for flexibility in the KPIs they measure
their campaign by, the ad formats they use, and the type of programmatic buying process they use.
Ad delivery controls to limit frequency or sequence ad creatives round out today’s capabilities.
›› Video planners will look for cross-device capabilities; mobile video ads next. We also asked
which capabilities will be important for video DSPs to offer in the next three years. While quality
capabilities remained among the top needs, cross-device capabilities to identify individuals and
optimize ads jumped into the top 10 along with the ability to use the advertiser’s first-party data.
Mobile ad inventory beat out over-the-top TV ad inventory as the most critical future type of video
inventory (see Figure 3).
FIGURE 1 TV And Digital Video Planning Converges
“How is your firm organized to manage television and digital video advertising?”
Only digital, Other
5%
no TV
7%
A single group
handles both
32%
Different TV and digital
groups operate
independently
17%
71% of respondents
coordinate TV and
digital video
Different TV and
digital groups,
but plan jointly
39%
Base: 86 survey respondents
Source: The Forrester Wave™: Video Ad Platforms, Q4 2015 Customer Reference Survey
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
4
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
FIGURE 2 Advertisers Want Quality, Flexibility, And Control
“Does your company use the following capabilities in its video marketing?”
(Please select one response per row.)
Currently using
Plan to use in the next 12 months
No plans to use
1
Support for a variety of KPIs (e.g., CPM,
clicks, reach, etc.)
72 3
Ability to define and avoid content deemed
inappropriate for my brand
71 3 2
Support for ad formats such as VPAID,
VAST, MRAID
69 3 4
Ad delivery controls (e.g., frequency capping,
creative sequencing, etc.)
Third-party ad viewability verification
67 3
Data from third-party sources for planning
and targeting ads
66 4
A bidding engine that provides flexibility in
setting bid parameters and prices
6
65
Both auction and direct publisher buys
8
6
11
5
62
Attribution for actions such as site visits,
search volume, etc., to ads
60
55
53
5
10 3
63
Both audience guaranteed and
non-guarantee types of buys
5
7
65 4
Both private marketplaces and
open exchanges
Attribution for leads, sales, revenue, or other
business impacts to ads
7 3
66
Selecting ad placements based on type of
content (e.g., sports, travel, cooking, etc.)
6
5 3
67
Ability to eliminate fraudulent inventory
Brand lift measurement
5 3
68
13
8
15
8
Base: 72 survey respondents
Source: The Forrester Wave™: Video Ad Platforms, Q4 2015 Customer Reference Survey
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
5
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
FIGURE 3 Cross-Screen Capabilities And Mobile Inventory Top Future Needs
3-1
Support for first-party data and cross-screen capabilities will grow in importance
“Please rate the importance or unimportance of a video DSP platform
offering the following capabilities in the next three years.”
Not important
Somewhat important
Important
Critically important
Ability to define and avoid content deemed
inappropriate for my brand 2
12
62
Ability to eliminate fraudulent inventory 1
13
62
Third-party ad viewability verification 2
58
16
Support for a variety of KPIs (e.g., CPM,
clicks, reach, etc.) 2
57
17
Ad delivery controls (e.g., frequency capping,
creative sequencing, etc.) 3
18
55
A bidding engine that provides flexibility in
setting bid parameters and prices 3
18
55
Importing my first-party data to use in
planning and targeting ads 1 5
Support for ad formats such as VPAID,
VAST, MRAID
5
Cross-screen, cross-device optimization 4
Identification of individuals across
2
screens/devices
16
54
18
53
20
52
21
53
Base: 72 survey respondents
Source: The Forrester Wave™: Video Ad Platforms, Q4 2015 Customer Reference Survey
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
6
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
FIGURE 3 Cross-Screen Capabilities And Mobile Inventory Top Future Needs (Cont.)
3-2
Advertisers demand mobile video inventory
“Please rate the importance or unimportance of a video DSP platform offering extensive
advertising inventory in each of the following types of placements in the next three years.”
Not important
Somewhat important
Mobile apps 3
6
10
Television content streamed to over-the-top devices
3
(e.g., Roku, game consoles, SmartTV, etc.)
11
Web-based user generated video
(YouTube, Vine, etc.)
12
7
Video-on-demand
Professionally-produced web-based video content
(e.g., Stylehaul, Machinima, etc.)
15
9
Linear television
6
37
34
16
Addressable television ads 4
42
25
9
Television content streamed over the Internet
3
to a computer or laptop
Critically important
25
Mobile web 4
Television content streamed via apps
3
to mobile devices
Important
28
37
27
30
27
35
25
29
25
14
33
20
17
33
20
10
23
31
12
Base: 72 survey respondents
Source: The Forrester Wave™: Video Ad Platforms, Q4 2015 Customer Reference Survey
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
7
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
Video Advertising DSP Evaluation Overview
To assess the state of the video advertising DSP market and see how the vendors stack up against
each other, Forrester evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of top video advertising DSP vendors
(see Figure 4).
FIGURE 4 Evaluated Vendors: Vendor Information And Selection Criteria
Vendor
Product evaluated
AOL
One by AOL: Video
DataXu
The DataXu Platform
Google
DoubleClick Bid Manager
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk Demand-Side Platform
Tremor Video
Tremor Video Demand Side Platform
TubeMogul
TubeMogul Platform
Turn
Turn Campaign Suite
Viant
Viant Advertising Cloud
Videology
Videology Platform
Yahoo
BrightRoll DSP
Vendor selection criteria
The vendor must support buy-side advertising clients.
The vendor must support ad inventory in both desktop/laptop Web, mobile Web, and mobile app video.
The vendor must support ad inventory in at least three forms of television content: live linear, streamed
via network or MVPD app, streamed via connected TV device, MVPD VOD, or MVPD addressable ads.
Advertisers Focus On Inventory Quality And Cross-Screen Capabilities
After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we
developed a comprehensive set of evaluation criteria. We evaluated vendors against 22 criteria, which
we grouped into three high-level buckets:
›› Current offering. Our 11 evaluation criteria are grouped into 7 capabilities. Five of these reflect
the capabilities needed to support the core tasks in managing a campaign: planning capabilities,
TV campaign extension, transaction capabilities, campaign execution, and measurement. Of the
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
8
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
final two criteria, one looks at the breadth of ad inventory across the entire spectrum of video types
available, while the other reflects the satisfaction ratings on 15 capabilities that the reference clients
of each participating vendor indicated in an online survey that Forrester administered.9
›› Strategy. To determine whether the company has a strategy that will meet the expected changes
in this fast-evolving area, Forrester evaluated the breadth of expertise of the management team
and the product strategy for its robustness in addressing the need for cross-device individual
identification, incorporating all forms of digital and video advertising, and the ability to provide
quantitative, scientific measurement of campaign results.
›› Market presence. These eight criteria examine four areas of each firm’s position in the market:
customer base, revenue, revenue growth, and global capabilities.
Evaluated Vendors Give The Buy-Side Comprehensive Video Ad Features
Forrester included 10 vendors in the assessment: AOL, DataXu, Google DoubleClick Bid Manager, The
Trade Desk, Tremor Video, TubeMogul, Turn, Viant, Videology, and Yahoo BrightRoll. Each of these
vendors has:
›› Capabilities to enable the buy side. In order to qualify, vendors had to have a set of features
designed to enable advertisers or their agencies to plan, buy, and execute video advertising
campaigns. While some of the included vendors offer platforms intended to be used by both buy
and sell side, pure sell-side platforms were excluded from consideration.
›› Broad video content including inventory in television programs. With consumer viewing behavior
shifting to diverse online, over-the-top, and TV everywhere options, advertisers need a tool that can
reach these viewers to fill the increasing gaps in traditional television ad plans as linear TV ratings
sag. We focused on vendors who tap into the entire spectrum of video opportunities, including linear
television, while excluding vendors who handled web-native video alone.
Leaders Support Planning And Execution Of Both TV And Digital Video
The evaluation uncovered a market in which:
›› TubeMogul, Videology, and The Trade Desk lead the pack. These three vendors built their
technologies from day one in anticipation of television programming and advertising becoming
more digital in nature. Their understanding of the way traditional TV planners and buyers operate,
along with their vision of the new capabilities this digitization will enable to make TV more flexible
and measurable, put them ahead of other vendors in this space (see Figure 5).
›› Strong performers provide a strong technology platform but lack linear TV inventory. Other
vendors come to video with technologies originally developed for other types of advertising.
BrightRoll and Tremor Video have evolved from being video ad networks, and their need to bolster
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
9
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
DSP functionality means some more television-focused functions are not yet present. Vendors
from the display advertising side, including DataXu and Turn, have added video inventory to their
offerings but lack capabilities that support the branding objectives that video primarily serves. Viant
envisioned a new platform and built its Advertising Cloud through a series of acquisitions that show
strong promise. DoubleClick Bid Manager is relatively new to the video space and opted not to
participate in the evaluation, but given the importance of this vendor in online advertising, Forrester
included it as a nonparticipating vendor.10
This evaluation of the video advertising DSP market is intended to be a starting point only. We
encourage clients to view detailed product evaluations and adapt criteria weightings to fit their
individual needs through the Forrester Wave Excel-based vendor comparison tool.
FIGURE 5 Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand Side Platforms, Q4 ‘15
Challengers Contenders
Strong
Strong
Performers
Leaders
TubeMogul
Videology
The Trade
Desk
Viant
Turn
Tremor Video
BrightRoll
Current
offering
DataXu
Google
Go to Forrester.com to
download the Forrester
Wave tool for more
detailed product
evaluations, feature
comparisons, and
customizable rankings.
AOL
Market presence
Full vendor participation
Incomplete vendor participation
Weak
Weak
Strategy
Strong
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
10
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
FIGURE 5 Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand Side Platforms, Q4 ‘15 (Cont.)
Challengers Contenders
Strong
Strong
Performers
Leaders
TubeMogul
Videology
The Trade
Desk
Viant
Turn
Tremor Video
BrightRoll
Current
offering
DataXu
Google
Go to Forrester.com to
download the Forrester
Wave tool for more
detailed product
evaluations, feature
comparisons, and
customizable rankings.
AOL
Market presence
Full vendor participation
Incomplete vendor participation
Weak
Weak
Strategy
Strong
Vendor Profiles
Leaders
›› TubeMogul’s video-first heritage empowers the buy side. TubeMogul was founded as an online
video platform and designed to serve brand-focused advertisers, a departure from most online
advertising’s direct response bias. Its emphasis on serving branding objectives is confirmed by the
strong offer of TV network private marketplaces and the platform’s capabilities in planning online
video that complements a linear TV schedule. TubeMogul customers gave it strong ratings for its
data sourcing and management abilities, fraud prevention, and ad delivery controls. Ad agencies
and marketers who want to directly manage their programmatic video buying will find the self-serve
platform compelling.
To maintain its leadership position, TubeMogul needs to strengthen its cross-device individual identity
graph, the weakest capability area as highlighted by its customer references, but key to the ability to
give brand-focused advertisers optimal control over the reach and frequency of their campaigns.
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
11
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
›› Videology excels at mastering the convergence of television and online video. Videology
designed its solution with the view that the TV buying process would eventually be automated
and the thinking behind TV planning would drive online video buying. As a result, Videology has
the most sophisticated media optimizer to analyze the right allocation of TV and online video
to optimize reach and campaign cost, a compelling feature for media planners grounded in a
traditional TV discipline. The firm serves both advertisers and publishers — notably Comcast’s
Spotlight ad sales — but maintains its neutrality by not owning any advertising inventory.
Videology’s bidding engine and in-flight optimization client reference scores lag, and the firm
will need to improve these functions as video advertising evolves from content placements to
impression-by-impression buying.
›› The Trade Desk combines strong programmatic technology for digital video inventory. This
firm, a Leader in our demand-side platforms Q2 2015 Forrester Wave, has built a strong technology
platform for digital media buying based on its roots in online display advertising.11 These digital
roots show in its strength in digital video inventory, bidding engine, and in-flight optimization
capabilities. The Trade Desk received the highest customer satisfaction ratings of all participants,
and most capabilities scored significantly above the median for each. The firm aspires to move
beyond its display heritage to be the platform for everything digital, and these broad capabilities
are best for ad agencies and marketers with large budgets distributed across all forms of display
and video ad opportunities.
The Trade Desk’s digital roots expose weaknesses for more brand-oriented advertisers: planning
screens that focus on impressions without the ability to calculate a campaign’s unduplicated reach
and frequency and only average brand lift measurement capabilities.
Strong Performers
›› Turn offers a solid video DSP but can improve on ad inventory quality controls. Given Turn’s
history as an early provider of programmatic advertising, it’s no surprise that the firm scores highly
for core DSP capabilities, such as its bidding engine and in-flight optimization. It has augmented
these strengths by tapping into all the major video and television inventory sources, such as
clypd and One by AOL: Video Marketplace. Turn’s “media path to conversion” and “optimal reach
and frequency to drive actions” analyses will appeal especially to brands in high consideration
categories where the consumer decision path is long and likely moves across many touchpoints.
Turn’s customer reference scores for its fraud prevention capabilities were well below average, and
we found its viewability and brand safety features middle of the pack. Like other programmatic
platforms that started in the display space, its platform lags in offering tools to plan digital video
buys that fill gaps in TV buys.
›› Viant’s integrated stack aims to slash the “technology tax.” Viant has assembled its Advertising
Cloud from a series of acquisitions with the goal of squeezing costs out of today’s ecosystem of
disparate specialist services, such as viewability, DMP, attribution, etc., that constitute the so© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
12
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
called technology tax that siphons off up to 60% of the online advertising budget.12 The firm further
differentiates itself with its offering of 1 billion proprietary deterministic cross-device, people-based
profiles derived from Myspace, which it acquired in 2011. Its focus to date has been on digital
media, including video (through its 2010 acquisition of Vindico), but the firm plans to launch its
Xumo platform in connected TVs in the next six months to build its TV inventory and viewer data.
Advertisers who don’t want day-to-day management of their campaigns will appreciate Viant’s
managed services focus.
Viant needs to enhance its bidding engine, ad delivery controls, and planning capabilities and expand
beyond connected TV inventory to have a full video solution to move into the Leader category.
›› Tremor Video makes the transition from ad network to video marketplace. Started as a video
ad network in 2007, the firm saw the market move away from the network model and has spent
two years evolving its capabilities to serve both buy and sell side with its VideoHub. Tremor Video
shows strong progress in its DSP, offering credible capabilities in all areas and particular strengths
in its audience forecasting and in-flight optimization, while its customers further rated its brand lift
and attribution measurement abilities highly. This combination of features is well suited for brand
advertisers who allocate a significant portion of their budget to digital channels.
While the firm needs to continue to strengthen its fraud and brand safety capabilities, it also needs
to build out its television inventory and tools for converging TV and digital video planning, which
the firm told us is on its road map for 2016.
›› BrightRoll offers strong digital video inventory for digital advertisers. BrightRoll was a pioneer
video ad network, launching in 2006, and pivoted to the programmatic space with the launch
of BrightRoll Exchange in 2010. Yahoo’s acquisition of BrightRoll in 2014 should have bolstered
the DSP’s cross-device individual identity graph with first-party deterministic data, though client
reference scores indicate this hasn’t been fully realized yet. BrightRoll users give it strong marks for
inventory availability, and Yahoo’s integration of mobile analytics tool Flurry strengthens BrightRoll’s
mobile advertising offering. Advertisers whose budget is predominantly digital will benefit from this
breadth of ad inventory.
But BrightRoll’s platform is built around online display advertising processes and metrics that don’t
fully support the objectives of a converged TV/online video plan. To become a leader, BrightRoll
needs to improve its tools to help media planners understand how digital video will extend and
complement their TV schedules.
›› DataXu’s strong platform hasn’t fully translated to video’s branding power. As a Leader in the
DSP Forrester Wave, its buy-side platform starts with strong in-flight optimization capabilities and
a powerful bidding engine. The vendor backs its claims of strong fraud prevention with a moneyback guarantee that differentiates it in the market. Large advertisers who don’t use TV and whose
business has a direct response focus will find the platform capable for their needs.
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
13
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
But the firm’s omnichannel approach only applies to digital channels, including video, and it lags
others in linear TV inventory and planning capabilities. In addition, its display heritage comes
through in its focus on impressions and clicks, and with other actions and gaps in its ability to
serve brand objectives.
›› DoubleClick Bid Manager shows potential to be a strong competitor. DoubleClick launched
its video capability at the end of 2013 and opted to be a nonparticipating vendor in this evaluation.
Despite the limited information Forrester was able to gather, the firm earned Strong Performer
status, particularly for the strength of its in-flight optimization and cross-device individual
identification, which benefits from Google’s broad first-party relationship with over a billion Internet
users globally. Television is a high priority for DoubleClick, and it demonstrated a clear vision and
strong strategy for how it will expand its capabilities. It is also committed to further integrating
the measurement capabilities acquired through Adometry, enabling users to optimize to business
results. The firm reported strong growth since the launch of its video capability, and DoubleClick
will be an easy addition for advertisers already using the platform for their display advertising.
›› One by AOL: Video is a new platform that needs improvement to fulfill its promise. The One by
AOL: Video platform launched in April 2015 as the result of a series of acquisitions, including video
platform Adapt.TV in 2013 and attribution technology Convertro in 2014. AOL’s 30 owned media
properties, such as the Huffington Post and TechCrunch, give the platform a strong foundation
of first-party deterministic identities. The platform also offers unique television capabilities, with
audience data for all television programming and its proprietary “tRatio” metric. Advertisers will
appreciate the ability to use digital ads to fill gaps in TV schedules as audiences rapidly migrate to
non-linear viewing options.
Despite these strong capabilities, One by AOL: Video earned the lowest satisfaction scores among
all participants, suggesting the firm must better integrate these capabilities. The firm has two
additional integrations in process: Millennial Media and Verizon customer data. If successful, it has
the potential to be a future Leader.
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
14
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
Engage With An Analyst
Gain greater confidence in your decisions by working with Forrester thought leaders to apply our
research to your specific business and technology initiatives.
Analyst Inquiry
Analyst Advisory
Ask a question related to our research; a
Forrester analyst will help you put it into
practice and take the next step. Schedule
a 30-minute phone session with the analyst
or opt for a response via email.
Put research into practice with in-depth
analysis of your specific business and
technology challenges. Engagements
include custom advisory calls, strategy
days, workshops, speeches, and webinars.
Learn more about inquiry, including tips for
getting the most out of your discussion.
Learn about interactive advisory sessions
and how we can support your initiatives.
Supplemental Material
Online Resource
The online version of Figure 5 is an Excel-based vendor comparison tool that provides detailed product
evaluations and customizable rankings.
Data Sources Used In This Forrester Wave
Forrester used a combination of three data sources to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each
solution:
›› Vendor surveys. Forrester surveyed vendors on their capabilities as they relate to the evaluation
criteria. Vendors provided detailed descriptions and supporting evidence pertaining to their current
offering, strategy, and market presence. Where necessary, we conducted vendor calls or written
requests to gather additional details of vendor capabilities as they relate to the evaluation criteria.
›› In-depth briefings and product demos. We met with each vendor for a two-hour briefing and
demonstration of their products’ functionality, including two scenarios we designed to provide a
standard process for understanding key features. We used findings from these product demos to
validate details of each vendor’s product capabilities.
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
15
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
›› Customer reference survey. To validate product and vendor qualifications, Forrester also
conducted an online survey with up to 10 of each vendor’s current customers.
The Forrester Wave Methodology
We conduct primary research to develop a list of vendors that meet our criteria to be evaluated in this
market. From that initial pool of vendors, we then narrow our final list. We choose these vendors based
on: 1) product fit; 2) customer success; and 3) Forrester client demand. We eliminate vendors that have
limited customer references and products that don’t fit the scope of our evaluation.
After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we develop
the initial evaluation criteria. To evaluate the vendors and their products against our set of criteria,
we gather details of product qualifications through a combination of lab evaluations, questionnaires,
demos, and/or discussions with client references. We send evaluations to the vendors for their review,
and we adjust the evaluations to provide the most accurate view of vendor offerings and strategies.
We set default weightings to reflect our analysis of the needs of large user companies — and/or other
scenarios as outlined in the Forrester Wave document — and then score the vendors based on a
clearly defined scale. These default weightings are intended only as a starting point, and we encourage
readers to adapt the weightings to fit their individual needs through the Excel-based tool. The final
scores generate the graphical depiction of the market based on current offering, strategy, and market
presence. Forrester intends to update vendor evaluations regularly as product capabilities and vendor
strategies evolve. For more information on the methodology that every Forrester Wave follows, go to
http://www.forrester.com/marketing/policies/forrester-wave-methodology.html.
Integrity Policy
All of Forrester’s research, including Forrester Wave evaluations, is conducted according to our Integrity
Policy. For more information, go to http://www.forrester.com/marketing/policies/integrity-policy.html.
Endnotes
Ed Papazian, the president of Media Dynamics, notes that this decline “hasn’t been seen before” and in total,
spending is down 11% since the 2012 to 2014 season. Source: Wayne Friedman, “Broadcast, Cable Upfront Spending
Drops Again,” MediaPost, September 9, 2015 (http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/257973/broadcastcable-upfront-spending-drops-again.html).
1
Millennials are defined here as 18 to 35 year olds, while older adults are 36 and older. Source: Forrester’s North
American Consumer Technographics® Online Benchmark Survey (Part 1), 2015.
2
Younger consumers continue to drive the adoption of mobile video, seeing it as the core of their entertainment
universe. Source: “Ooyala Q2 Global Video Index,” Ooyala (http://go.ooyala.com/wf-video-index-q2-2015).
3
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
16
FOR B2C MARKETING PROFESSIONALS
November 30, 2015
The Forrester Wave™: Video Advertising Demand-Side Platforms, Q4 2015
The 10 Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
The ANA/White Ops study notes: “Almost a quarter of video ad impressions in the study were identified as bot fraud,
as were 11 percent of display ad impressions, while 17 percent of programmatic display bot traffic was fraudulent, and
bot fraud for retargeted ads averaged 19 percent.” Source: Michael J. McDermott, “Fraudsters, Liars, and Cheats,”
Association of National Advertisers, March 1, 2015 (http://www.ana.net/miccontent/show/id/ana-2015-mar-fraudstersliars-cheats).
4
Forrester forecasts a 21% compound annual growth rate for video advertising on PCs through 2019, and an almost 40%
growth rate on mobile devices. Source: Forrester Research Online Display Advertising Forecast, 2014 To 2019 (US).
5
Source: Jason Lynch, “A First Look at Nielsen’s Total Audience Measurement and How It Will Change the
Industry,” Adweek, October 20, 2015 (http://www.adweek.com/news/television/first-look-nielsen-s-total-audiencemeasurement-and-how-it-will-change-industry-167661).
6
As advertisers grow more comfortable with the new way of buying video ad inventory, television programming
delivered online, in apps and across devices will be progressively pulled into programmatic buying’s orbit and will
eventually arrive at television’s doorstep. See the “How Software Is Eating Video Ads And, Soon, TV” Forrester report.
7
Different types of video content have higher or lower value to advertisers, largely depending on the perceived level of
production quality; advertisers often consider video content produced for TV broadcasting at the top of the pile. As
the advertising industry gains experience with programmatic buying, the practice is morphing beyond its original open
real-time bidding format, creating four types of programmatic buying models. See the “How Software Is Eating Video
Ads And, Soon, TV” Forrester report.
8
Forrester invited vendors participating in this Wave to provide up to 10 client references each. Forrester fielded an
online survey to the 88 references provided, asking them to prioritize the importance of DSP platform capabilities and
rate their satisfaction with their vendor on 15 of these capabilities. These results formed the basis of the customer
satisfaction criterion in the Forrester Wave model.
9
Occasionally, vendors we choose to include in a Wave decline to actively participate in the process. If the analyst feels
the vendor is important in this market, he or she may choose to include it in the report as a nonparticipating vendor.
Nonparticipating vendors do not go through the formal evaluation process; instead, Forrester uses public information
and data gathered via briefings and/or independently sourced client references.
10
To learn more about our assessment of the demand side platforms market, see the “The Forrester Wave™: DemandSide Platforms, Q2 2015” Forrester report.
11
The term “technology tax” refers to the significant percent of the advertising budget that is spent on intermediary
technologies and data sources such as ad servers, DSPs, et al., instead of purchasing media. For one estimate of the
size of this “tax,” visit the following link. Source: “The Technology Tax,” Aol Platforms (http://www.aolplatforms.com/
research/technology-tax).
12
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
17
We work with business and technology leaders to develop
customer-obsessed strategies that drive growth.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
››
››
››
››
››
››
Core research and tools
Data and analytics
Peer collaboration
Analyst engagement
Consulting
Events
Forrester’s research and insights are tailored to your role and
critical business initiatives.
ROLES WE SERVE
Marketing & Strategy
Professionals
CMO
B2B Marketing
›› B2C Marketing
Customer Experience
Customer Insights
eBusiness & Channel
Strategy
Technology Management
Professionals
CIO
Application Development
& Delivery
Enterprise Architecture
Infrastructure & Operations
Security & Risk
Sourcing & Vendor
Management
Technology Industry
Professionals
Analyst Relations
CLIENT SUPPORT
For information on hard-copy or electronic reprints, please contact Client Support at
+1 866-367-7378, +1 617-613-5730, or clientsupport@forrester.com. We offer quantity
discounts and special pricing for academic and nonprofit institutions.
Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We work with
business and technology leaders to develop customer-obsessed strategies that drive growth. Through proprietary
research, data, custom consulting, exclusive executive peer groups, and events, the Forrester experience is about a
singular and powerful purpose: to challenge the thinking of our clients to help them lead change in their organizations.
113501
For more information, visit forrester.com.