1. With a projected revenue of $30 billion in 2025, what strategies should advertisers adopt to effectively leverage this growing medium?

The numbers speak for themselves – the biggest screen in the home has become the center of attention and action. CTV has officially moved beyond passive viewing – and the home screen has transformed into a launchpad for immersive entertainment, interactive experiences, and increasingly for retail experiences. This means new opportunities for advertisers to connect with people across both entertainment and purchase journeys. 

The next era of TV starts with connecting the total TV experience by creating one cohesive campaign to engage viewers across all their screens. By embracing this holistic approach, advertisers can deliver more impactful, personalized campaigns that not only capture attention but also drive real results. The future of TV advertising is about creating seamless and measurable, connected experiences that resonate with today’s multitasking consumers.

2. How important is it for advertisers to maintain flexibility across multiple demand-side platforms in today's fragmented media landscape?

In today’s media landscape, marketers need to break through the noise across platforms, environments, and screens with strategic performance campaigns that drive real results. That means it’s incredibly important for advertisers to maintain flexibility across all parts of their advertising efforts – and that includes their DSP partners. 

As adtech partners, our responsibility is to remain flexible in order to help advertisers succeed. With our DSP-agnostic strategy, our integration with Amazon marks another step in our path to provide flexibility, control, option, and choice for our clients – enabling them to leverage our high-quality, premium content at scale. 

3. What best practices should be adopted to ensure ethical and effective use in campaign strategies?

In CTV, ethical and effective campaign strategies must start with clear goals and the right technological partners to measure and optimize success. And that requires transparency – ensuring every dollar is working efficiently, and responsible data practices are being upheld across crucial areas like inclusive advertising and sustainability. 

From our recent deals with major identity partners to our proprietary ACR data, we’re able to empower marketers with full confidence in their investments with effective, personalized advertising experiences that drive results. 

4. How should advertisers adapt free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services strategies to align with the shifts in viewing habits? 

It’s true – ad-supported content continues to gain momentum across all screens, especially TV. According to our latest research, over 65% of CTV viewers say they now prefer free ad-supported content, with nearly a quarter planning to add a FAST service in the next 12 months. 

As a result of this continued shift, we’ve seen the content within these FAST environments expand – providing viewers with a diverse array of content across channels, streaming providers, and apps. Ultimately, this means more opportunities for brands to make connections. But it’s about more than just reach and scale: it’s about understanding. 

Marketers must seamlessly blend advertising into the overall TV experience – tailoring campaigns to fit cultural nuances and local preferences. And that experience starts on the TV Home Screen. 

5. As more consumers access content through smart TVs, what opportunities and challenges do this present for cross-screen advertising campaigns?

The challenge for marketers is no longer about just breaking through the noise and reaching audiences on the biggest screen in the home – it’s about creating meaningful engagements that seamlessly blend across the entire TV ecosystem, including second screens like mobile devices.

But this challenge comes with new opportunities. Take the TV Home Screen, for example: it’s now a space where consumers can seamlessly explore streaming, gaming, fitness, music, and more — all within one interface. This innovation opens up a wealth of opportunities to capture attention and drive engagement throughout the viewer's journey. Through creative units like 3D and shoppable ads, advertisers can invest in innovative and engaging experiences that drive connection throughout the entire viewing journey, starting with content discovery. 

6. What role do partnerships between content providers and technology platforms play in shaping the future of digital advertising?

As an OEM with an O&O content arm, we have an intimate understanding of what’s possible when content and technology partners succeed, together. And when it comes to the future of digital advertising, collaboration is critical. 

Premium content remains the cornerstone of engagement – and marketers need to engage audiences where they’re watching with relevancy, accuracy, and ease. But without the right technological infrastructure, it’s difficult to ensure a seamless viewer experience while making advertising feel personal, powerful, and truly impactful. Not to mention, the ability to leverage critical measurement and data to optimize performance has now become a foundational aspect of overall campaign success.

In order to power the future of advertising on the most dynamically evolving medium within AdTech, we must remain focused on innovation – creating smarter, more immersive ad experiences that drive real connections. 

Get in touch with our MarTech Experts.

1. How do you integrate video advertising technologies to align with business objectives such as revenue growth and brand visibility? 

The ecosystem of AdPlayer.Pro’s solutions is designed to facilitate digital ad companies in their specific business needs. Namely, when it comes to revenue growth, we empower our partners to unlock new monetization opportunities and new revenue streams by supporting programmatic Demand integrations, including Prebid.js support, alongside the standard Google IMA, VAST / VPAID / SIMID and direct deals with premium advertisers, hence helping them maximize fill rates and revenue outcomes across all platforms.

In addition to supporting a variety of ad waterfall options (parallel, sequential and performance-based), AdPlayer.Pro enables customers to use our video header bidding solution with Prebid.js support, taking advantage of this ad inventory sale approach when needed. 

In this respect, we have also recently released our featured Video Header Bidding Module for Prebid.js, specifically designed for tech-savvy publishers, working with Prebid Demand partners, to help them set up video campaigns as effortlessly as possible. 

As for the brand visibility aspect, the AdPlayer.Pro ad-enabled video player is fully customizable, both when it comes to its performance specifications and the brand stylistics, helping our partners to configure all of it, according to their brand guidelines. 

More importantly, being committed to driving innovation and equipping our business partners with high-end quality advertising tech, fully-compliant with all major standards, we’ve also ensured support of Open Measurement SDK for Web Video (OMID) in our products, enabling their access to the more precise ad visibility verification and invalid traffic (IVT, SIVT) detection tools. 

2. How do you address operational complexities related to configuring and launching video ad campaigns across multiple platforms? 

One of the core benefits of our ad-enabled video player is its absolute compatibility with the third-party ad servers; it’s server-agnostic, so to speak, and its ultimate simplicity of integration across all platforms and screens, from desktop and mobile web, to mobile apps, CTV and AMP pages. 

The only thing required is to configure all player features, either via the platform dashboard or the player JS code, then add the player code to the publisher’s digital properties. 

Notably, publishers working with Prebid Demand vendors won’t need to take any extra steps, i.e. integrate Prebid.js into their websites beforehand, since the AdPlayer.Pro player initiates Prebid.js for them.

3. How do you stay informed about evolving video advertising trends to ensure your organization remains competitive in customer engagement strategies? 

AdPlayer.Pro has become an active member of industry-specific bodies and organizations, like Prebid.org, hence contributing to the development of next-gen ad tech solutions and helping to improve the global digital ad ecosystem. 

In addition, our team members have been continuously taking part in a wide variety of digital advertising expos & conferences, being able to exchange our outlooks on the industry evolution and expand our expertise in the market-specific enhancements. 

Non-surprisingly, though, the scope of sources of knowledge in the current digital realities is, certainly, endless, and also includes our ongoing communication and expertise exchange with other industry leaders, digital ad analysts, premium ad customers, and much more. 

And, certainly, we are committed to a customer-centered approach, meaning that it's our business clients who shape the course of our product evolution. 

4. How does your organization maintain transparency with customers regarding data collection and usage for video ad personalization purposes? 

Even though, as an ad tech provider AdPlayer.Pro doesn’t collect any End User Personal Data, our flagship products are compliant with all data privacy requirements, including IAB’s TCP and CPRA-specific regulations.

More importantly, the AdPlayer.Pro platform allows integrating a broad range of End User consent features, fully customizable, based on the customer’s particular business needs. 

5. How are you adapting to the phasing out of third-party cookies and the shift towards first-party data in video advertising? 

From the very beginning, our team has designed the AdPlayer.Pro digital ad technologies with the primary focus on our customers’ requirements. 

In this respect, when it comes to cookies and the use of our partners’ first-party data, it’s absolutely effortless to configure a vast array of targeting capabilities for each specific ad placement, likewise as apply any custom audience targeting preferences, either by integrating a custom targeting script into Demand Tags or on an Ad Placement (Player Code) level. 

6. What investments are being made to enhance your organization's video advertising infrastructure and capabilities?

The AdPlayer.Pro team has always been focused on the continued development and enhancement of our flagship products, aiming to help our business partners maximize their revenue results. 

Namely, over the past months, we’ve centered our efforts on the upgrade of our available programmatic ad capabilities and Prebid-centered functions in order to meet our partners’ current demands. 

In addition, our ad-enabled video player also undergoes continuous upgrades, so that it’s compliant & compatible with all video ad standards and formats and ensures the flawless video ad delivery across all platforms and screens.   

Get in touch with our MarTech Experts.

1. How important is improving unaided brand awareness to your marketing objectives in the next 12 months?  

I lead marketing for a tech company, and as a B2B marketer I think unaided brand awareness is everything!  Tech needs to be top of mind in order to be considered.  When someone is considering using a technology, or for that matter any product or service, your awareness is key.  You either need to be thought of immediately, because you are clearly associated with that category, or when they do their research and see you, they immediately think of you in a different, hopefully better, way.  That second example of more aided awareness, but unaided awareness can keep you in front of the pack and force everyone else to position against you.  The biggest, best brands and ones that stay top of mind and score highly on unaided awareness.  For the next 12 months specifically, this might be the second most valuable metric I have as a marketer, second only to actual verifiable, qualified leads that convert.

2. To what extent do you believe in-content, non-disruptive advertising can outperform traditional formats in building brand equity? 

I believe it could be the way brands build trust and break through the clutter.  Interruptive ads are good for frequency and bringing a brand back to mind, but the in-content and non-disruptive model is better because you know it is not skipped, and it benefits from being in the content people know and love.  That’s why influencers do so well.  The messages are not skipped, and there is an implied trust in the creator that carries over to the brand.  That trust comes from an authentic implied endorsement.  Brands need that trust with the consumer, and if they have to borrow that trust from the context or the creator, then so be it.  If you take a portion of your budget and allocate it here, you get more awareness for your buck because it can’t be skipped, and that awareness is associated positively with a message.  That means your entire budget works smarter AND harder for your objectives.

3. Do you see embedded brand content within creator videos as a scalable and sustainable strategy for your brand? Why or why not? 

Yes.  Fundamentally, this is what we do.  We enable scalable solutions to execute this model.  For us, the audience that is attached to a show or a clip from a show, has a higher propensity to watch and engage with that content when it is shown to them, and that creates a higher attention opportunity for the brand.  When the audience is paying attention, your brand message works smarter.  I will never say this is the only way you should operate, but it definitely could be 50% of a marketers budget going forward.

4. As consumer attention shifts toward short-form, creator-driven, AI-augmented content, how is your organization adapting its messaging strategy? 

Our messaging has to be crisp and simple.  It has to be short and succinct.  It also benefits from being embedded in B2B content because that audience is ready for that kind of message.  For me, it's all about storytelling in the shortest way possible.  A good analogy is children’s books.   Those books are able to tell a story and get a point across very quickly.  When I used to read them to my kids, there was always a key message conveyed in a short time.  I think our marketing and messaging strategy has to be the same way.

5. Which KPIs are most important when evaluating a new advertising technology like RAI?

Any new technology should be able to be measured by the same KPI’s as the methods and formats that it is competing against.  For us, we evaluate our results on Unaided Awareness, Click-Through Rate, Video Completion Rate and Sales Lift.  These are standard KPIs and ones that any marketer should be focused on.

6. How important is being an early adopter of new advertising technologies in maintaining competitive advantage for your brand?

I think this is extremely important.  You always need to be thinking ahead.  Testing new technologies early allows you to unlock the value for your brand quickly, and maintain that competitive edge.  If you wait until someone else has figured it out, then you’re always going to be playing catch-up!

Get in touch with our MarTech Experts. 

1. Has Spectrio explored opportunities to monetize in-store digital signage through third-party advertising? If so, what methods have been considered or implemented?

Yes. Early last year, Spectrio began exploring opportunities to monetize in-store digital signage by enabling third-party advertising. As part of this initiative, we expanded our digital signage content management solution to support the delivery of advertising content.

This enhancement allows our digital signage endpoints to be exposed to advertisers, enabling our clients to:

●        Allocate a portion—or the entirety—of their screen real estate to ad content

●        Customize ad frequency and scheduling within their existing content loops

●        Seamlessly integrate advertising into their displays without compromising brand messaging or customer experience

This capability provides a scalable path for our clients to generate incremental revenue by participating in the growing Retail Media Network (RMN) ecosystem—without requiring a complete overhaul of their current digital signage infrastructure.. 

2. What challenges have you encountered in maximizing the effectiveness of your existing digital signage infrastructure?

Maximizing the effectiveness—and ultimately the monetization potential—of digital signage depends on a variety of factors, many of which present challenges:

●        Location and DMA (Designated Market Area): The geographic location of a sign significantly impacts its ad value. Signs in high-value DMAs typically attract more advertiser interest and command higher rates.

●        Foot Traffic Volume: Without sufficient traffic, even the most strategically placed signage may underperform in terms of ad impressions and engagement.

●        Traffic Profile: The demographic and behavioral profile of the audience matters—advertisers are more likely to invest where viewer data aligns with their target markets.

●        Contextual Relevance: The effectiveness of an ad can be influenced by the surrounding content on the screen. Ads that are well-integrated into relevant, high-quality content tend to perform better.

●        Shopper Data Availability: One of the biggest challenges is the depth and quality of shopper data.  . Access to insights like:

○        Loyalty card usage

○        Point-of-sale transaction logs

○        Real-time shopper presence in front of the display can greatly enhance targeting and attribution capabilities, but such data is often fragmented, unavailable, or difficult to integrate.

Together, these variables create a complex environment where maximizing digital signage effectiveness requires not only strong infrastructure but also the right data, partnerships, and content strategy.

3. What potential benefits and risks do you associate with transforming Spectrio’s digital signage network into a revenue-generating retail media network (RMN)?

Potential Benefits:

• New Revenue Stream:

Enables Spectrio and its clients to monetize underutilized screen time through third-party advertising, creating a consistent, incremental revenue source.

• Enhanced Client Value Proposition:

Offering RMN capabilities positions Spectrio as more than a CMS provider—it elevates us as a strategic partner helping clients unlock new business value.

• Competitive Differentiation:

RMN capabilities can distinguish Spectrio from traditional signage providers by tapping into a rapidly growing sector in retail and CPG.

• Advertiser Appeal:

Our existing network of screens represents a ready-made distribution channel for advertisers seeking in-store media placements with direct shopper exposure.

• Data-Driven Insights:

With the integration of shopper and transaction data, we can offer highly targeted and measurable campaigns, increasing effectiveness and advertiser satisfaction.

Potential Risks:

• Operational Complexity:

RMN introduces new layers of technology, data privacy, campaign management, and measurement—requiring new capabilities that are outside traditional signage operations.

• Client Buy-In and Brand Concerns:

Not all clients will be eager to display third-party ads, especially if it risks compromising brand control or customer experience.

• Ad Quality and Content Control:

Maintaining consistent, brand-safe ad quality across a diverse network may be challenging, particularly when multiple advertisers are involved.

4. What considerations are important for Spectrio when implementing audience targeting capabilities in in-store advertising?

Implementing effective audience targeting in in-store advertising requires a thoughtful blend of data, context, and placement. Key considerations include:

1. Audience Profile and Behavior

Understanding who the shoppers are is foundational. This includes:

●        Demographics (age, gender, income level)

●        Shopping behavior (frequency, dwell time, product preferences)

●        Loyalty data and purchase history
 This insight allows advertisers to tailor messages that are relevant and timely.

2. Venue Purpose and Traffic Patterns

The type of venue (e.g., convenience store, big-box retailer, pharmacy) shapes the shopper mindset and intent. Targeting strategies should align with whether the environment is high-frequency, high-intent, or more passive in nature.

3. Endpoint Location Within the Venue

Where the signage is located within the store greatly impacts its targeting potential:

●        Category adjacency (e.g., placing a beverage ad near the refrigerated drinks aisle)

●        Point of decision vs. point of entrance (e.g., impulse messaging near checkout vs. brand awareness at entry)

●        Line of sight and dwell time zones (high-traffic vs. low-attention areas)

4. Contextual and Situational Targeting

Real-time context, such as:

●        Time of day or day of week

●        Local weather conditions

●        Store-level promotions or events can further enhance targeting precision.

5. Data Integration and Privacy Compliance

To target effectively and responsibly, data sources such as loyalty programs, transaction logs, and in-store sensors must be integrated securely and in compliance with privacy regulations (e.g., CCPA, GDPR). Transparency and customer trust are non-negotiable.

Bottom Line:
The more insight, context, and relevance Spectrio can provide to advertisers through intelligent data and strategic placement, the more likely an ad will drive action—whether that’s awareness, consideration, or conversion.

5. What measures would you require to ensure that third-party advertisements align with your brand values and messaging?

To ensure that third-party advertisements are consistent with our brand values and those of our clients, we’ve implemented several key safeguards within the platform:

1. Advertiser and Category Controls

When a new venue or retailer is onboarded, they are provided with the ability to:

●        Whitelist approved advertisers and ad categories

●        Blacklist advertisers or categories that do not align with their brand standards or audience expectations

2. Pre-Approval Workflow

The platform can be configured to require manual review and approval of ad creatives before they are published. This ensures that every advertisement meets brand, tone, and content guidelines.

3. Customization by Location

Controls can be customized at the venue or even screen level, allowing flexibility to account for different regional or demographic sensitivities across a retail network.

4. Ongoing Monitoring and Oversight

Our team (and/or the client’s team) maintains the ability to monitor ad content in real time and remove or flag any content that violates brand guidelines post-deployment.

Conclusion: These measures ensure that retailers retain full control over the ad content shown on their digital signage, preserving brand integrity while enabling monetization through third-party advertising. 

6. How would the potential revenue from third-party advertising impact your overall marketing and operational budget planning?

Spectrio’s ad revenue-sharing model is intentionally designed to create a self-funding growth loop for our clients. The goal is to encourage reinvestment of ad-generated dollars into:

●        Expanding digital signage networks

●        Deploying additional endpoints

●        Enhancing content strategy and audience targeting capabilities

From a budget planning perspective, this model helps reduce the financial burden of network expansion, allowing clients to scale their in-store media presence with minimal incremental capital investment.

For Spectrio, the increase in third-party ad revenue also supports:

●        Investment in product development and platform innovation

●        Funding RMN-related operational support

●        Strengthening partner integrations and data capabilities

In summary:
The monetization of signage through third-party advertising isn’t just a new revenue stream—it’s a strategic enabler that allows both Spectrio and its clients to grow more efficiently, sustainably, and competitively.

Get in touch with our MarTech Experts. 

1. How is your organization adapting your products to capitalize on the growth of gaming as a primary channel for reaching digitally native consumers?

We believe that non-interruptive ad formats are the critical next step in the evolution of in-game advertising. When an ad delays or breaks gameplay, it takes away from everyone’s experience. That’s why we developed an in-game audio ad unit that can initiate alongside gameplay, giving advertisers the opportunity to reach players without harming their gameplay experience. As we look to the future, finding non-interruptive formats is our north star.

2. What role does in-game advertising—particularly non-intrusive formats like audio—play in your clients’ broader customer engagement and brand storytelling strategy?

More than ever, advertisers want to reach people where they know their ads have an opportunity to be seen and heard. In-game ads, especially non-interruptive units, maximize this opportunity for brands. For in-game audio, many brands who have already embraced streaming and podcasting are adding in-game as a way to maximize their reach and improve performance of the audio format.

3. How are your clients leveraging gaming environments to reach hard-to-access or ad-fatigued audience segments, such as Gen Z and millennial consumers? 

Mobile gaming is one of the broadest categories for reach, with almost 3 billion players worldwide. We have clients approach us for all of their target demos, whether it’s age, ethnicity, gender, or other behavioral segments. The beauty of mobile gaming is that no matter what kind of audience you’re looking for, you can find them within the gaming ecosystem.

4. How are your clients balancing innovation in ad formats with brand safety and user experience, especially in unmoderated or decentralized content environments like gaming?

There’s a big misconception that buying into gaming means operating in unmoderated environments. We have a multi-step process to ensure brand safety, and we don’t operate in UGC environments - we’re fully focused on mobile games from marquee global publishers in the casual and hyper-casual space. And we give our clients full visibility into our title list and the option to exclude any titles they feel are misaligned with their brands.

5. What performance benchmarks (e.g., listen-through rate, brand recall, engagement time) are most critical when evaluating emerging formats like in-game audio? 

We encourage our clients to focus on their key business results, especially since we’ve seen a lot of success with both top-of-funnel and lower-funnel campaigns. For brand advertisers we suggest running brand lift studies to see how powerful in-game audio can be for their brand health metrics. With performance advertisers, we encourage them to work with attribution partners to see how adding in-game audio can positively impact ROAS and acquisition costs.

6. What role do you see for in-game audio ads in clients’ long-term advertising strategy, particularly as gaming becomes an dominant form of digital entertainment?  

We’re optimistic that in-game audio will be as essential as podcasting or streaming audio for advertisers. We know the power of gaming from our experience in other formats, and we know that gaming is one of the few environments where ads really benefit the whole ecosystem. Early adopters are already seeing the benefits, and as programmatic audio becomes more widely adopted, we’re excited to see more advertisers embrace in-game audio.

1. How is your organization adapting its media investment strategies to leverage the rapid growth and innovations in CTV advertising? 

Kargo is adapting media investment strategies for its advertisers across three key pillars of innovation: context, commerce, and creative. These three pillars represent opportunities for advertisers to do more with CTV advertising than they ever did with traditional TV advertising. CTV is a medium where advertisers can use data-driven ad creation, targeting, dynamic ad serving, and interactivity to create more engaging, relevant experiences for audiences. Tapping into the context of the content around an ad, with an opportunity to sell products and measure the impact of advertising on sales, and to reinvent creative formats is not only exciting, it’s been shown to deliver higher returns for advertisers. 

For context we are using scene-level targeting by analyzing streaming video content to serve ads based on specific scenes, emotions, dialogue, or on-screen elements. This has been used by brands like Merci Chocolate to run their ads strategically timed with “giving” moments within a show.

For commerce, Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs) allow advertisers to customize big-screen ads using SKU-level data, geo-targeting, and behavioral insights, producing highly personalized creative variations. Mondelez is an example of a brand that has created ads that allow a viewer to click and purchase directly from the creative. American Eagle Outfitters used CTV commerce ads to pull in different product imagery to personalize ad creative for specific target audiences. 

On the creative front, high-impact ad formats—including Squeezeback, Glass and new offerings such as Mirage, Flipbook, and Tiles—maximize viewer engagement by integrating unique ad experiences seamlessly into streaming content, Smart TV interfaces, and standard ad pods.

2. How are you integrating advanced targeting techniques, like scene-level contextual targeting, into your media planning to enhance relevance and engagement?

Traditionally CTV contextual targeting has been performed at the level of an entire TV show, film, or live event. This approach only allows for targeting CTV ads in the stream based on the genre or category for the entire content. Although this is useful in specific scenarios, there are limitations due to the broadness of the method. With scene level targeting on CTV, there are more granular opportunities to drive high levels of relevance and engagement. For example imagine targeting moments for scenes in a video stream as follows: a “credit card swipe” for a card provider, a sports car driving along a scenic mountain route for a new fast car brand, or a happy scene with newborns for a baby clothing advertiser. Every scene in a show, movie, or live event, labeled by keywords, can be a powerful opportunity to reach consumers.

We are also incorporating AI to evaluate content on a much deeper level. Rather than relying only on a show description, we can understand many different aspects of the content including dialogue, what’s present in the scene, even sentiment and emotion. 

3. What technologies are currently employed to facilitate dynamic product ads and real-time customization in your CTV campaigns? 

Kargo has developed a video technology platform that can dynamically render thousands of variations of a high-definition high quality CTV ad based on unique attributes such as geo-location, audience segmentation, and/or product catalog items. The technology is able to extract only those specific product catalog items from large-scale product catalogs which are relevant for a user in a specific location based on proximity to a store, and then composite the visual image of that product into video content. These dynamically rendered creatives bring an optimal experience to the big screen in the living room, and so can be considered “Television Creative Optimization” or TCO, a next evolution of dynamic creative optimization. In addition to CTV, the technology extends to cross-channel experiences for the open web and social platforms, so the same consumer is reached across several touchpoints for maximum impact. For retailers, this is a game-changer, enabling highly targeted creative variations at scale that would previously have been impossible to produce.

Our Narrative product helps advertisers customize creative even if they do not have high quality video assets. Our AI-based technology uses existing content including display ads and website content to build CTV-ready campaigns that help many more advertisers tap into this channel. 

4. In what ways are you streamlining the creative development process to produce high-impact CTV ads without relying on extensive pre-existing assets?

We are truly a company that combines creative and technology in everything we do. Kargo has a global team that includes more than 50 creative designers. These visual designers bring a high level of artistic talent to creating powerful brand experiences across screens. This includes work we do for unique ad formats such as Squeezeback, Commerce, and Glass ads that require different creative designs vs. traditional TV creative. As part of the designer workflow they are using generative AI tools to complement and extend their work.. With Narrative, our team uses Generative AI to create a high-definition high quality TV ad using models for audio soundtracks / voiceovers and a dynamic composite of the still images resulting in a video stream. Another example is the use of generative AI to produce full motion highly realistic video which can be composited into custom creative CTV content built out for advertisers.

5. How does Kargo’s multichannel focus help you elevate CTV performance for your advertisers? 

Kargo offers measurement capabilities for CTV that mirrors what programmatic advertisers have had for years for more traditional display and video, effectively extending a depth and breadth of metric driven methodologies onto the big screen in the living room. For example, an extensive set of measurement attributes such as brand preference, purchase intent, consideration, brand awareness, brand lift, ad recall, brand favorability, attention, brand familiarity, ad memorability, store visits, and more are all available when working with CTV. This type of multichannel measurement capability allows advertisers to validate the performance benefits of context, commerce, and creative, while blending branding with performance in an integrated package.

6. How are you ensuring that your CTV advertising approaches remain adaptable to changes in consumer behavior and media consumption patterns?

Kargo is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to ensure that its approach to CTV advertising is flexible and fluid, aligned tightly with consumer trends and behavior. First, Kargo brings art and technology together to drive results, innovating with high-impact omnichannel ad formats, delivering creative that is literally and metaphorically “out of the box”. Second, Kargo takes social assets like short form video in portrait mode, and repurposes these onto the big screen in the living room, fusing social and CTV into a new experience. Third, Kargo provides contextual targeting at the scene level which is privacy compliant respecting consumer preferences while still delivering a high degree of relevance to what the consumer is streaming. This combination of creative and context platforms honors consumer behavior trends and media consumption patterns in a new way.

1. How does modular technology enhance flexibility and scalability in retail media networks?

Modular technology replaces the rigid, all-in-one retail media stack with a flexible architecture designed for change. Instead of locking retailers into a single solution for both sell-side and buy-side needs, modular systems decouple those layers so you can plug in a new DSP or update your ad server without rebuilding your entire tech 

For example, when The Home Depot launched Orange Apron Media, they didn’t settle for an out-of-the-box platform. Instead, they built a modular retail media stack around Pentaleap’s technology prioritizing interoperability, customization, and control.

This kind of setup makes it easy to scale. Need to add a new DSP? Add a new offsite partner? You can do it, and without disrupting everything else. That’s the power of a modular approach: faster upgrades, smoother integrations, and future-proof flexibility.

2. How does this approach compare to traditional retail media platforms, and what advantages does it offer?

Traditional retail media platforms were built as closed ecosystems—bundled tools, limited interoperability, and one path to monetization. That model may have been serviceable early on, but it limits innovation and control.

A modular approach changes the equation.

• Best-in-breed components: Retailers can select the strongest tech for each part of the stack.

• Reduced lock-in: No dependency on a single vendor’s roadmap or timelines.

• Lower total cost of ownership: Competitive pressure drives down costs and keeps margins healthy.

Again, when The Home Depot launched Orange Apron Media, they didn’t buy a monolith—they built a modular platform with Pentaleap at the core. This allowed them to customize the UI, optimize for supplier experience, and scale onsite and offsite offerings at their own pace.

With modular retail media, retailers aren’t limited to a fixed toolkit they build the platform that fits their business, not the other way around.

3. How can advertisers and brands maximize their ROI through modular retail media solutions?

With modular retail media, more of a brand’s budget reaches actual media, not middlemen. Lower ad tech fees = higher media efficiency and ROI.

It also opens the door to tighter integration with a retailer’s own site; search, personalization, and AI can all feed directly into ad delivery. 

That means more relevant placements, better shopper experiences, and higher conversion rates. It’s performance marketing with native intelligence built in.

4. How does this technology improve targeting, attribution, and measurement in retail media?

Retail media thrives on search—because intent is clear. Someone searching “dog food” is already halfway to checkout. That kind of context-based targeting consistently outperforms audience-based methods that guess at intent.

But targeting alone isn’t enough. What really matters is how ads are served.

Most platforms disrupt the shopper's journey with ads that feel bolted on. Their strategy is to push more, better, above-the-fold placements, but often at the cost of relevance.

Pentaleap’s Fluid Ad Server takes a different approach.

If a sponsored product is relevant and likely to convert, it earns top placement. If it’s not, it doesn’t show. Simple as that.

Some clients have told us that this approach makes it feel like your search algorithm was built to handle ads.

And the result is a native, seamless experience where paid content feels like part of the journey—not an interruption.

And because Fluid understands both organic and paid signals, high-quality ads naturally rise to the top. Poor performers are filtered out; not just by bids, but by relevance.

This isn’t about cramming in more ads. It’s about serving the right ones, in the right places, at the right time.

That’s how retailers increase yield without compromising experience, and how brands get attribution they can trust.

5. What role will privacy-compliant data strategies play in the success of modular retail media?

Privacy is foundational. Retail media already has a major advantage here: it runs on first-party data. Add in modular infrastructure and you get even more control; particularly around how that data is used.

We double down on contextual targeting rather than relying on identity graphs or third-party cookies. That’s good for privacy, and it’s future proof by design. The result: sustainable advertising that respects the customer and scales responsibly.

6. What trends are shaping the future of retail media networks and their role in the broader digital advertising ecosystem?

As usual, the trends are predicted by the biggest obstacles. One of the biggest challenges right now for both retailers and brands is fragmentation. Many retailers build their own walled gardens, which makes it harder for brands to buy and harder for retailers to sell.

Real-Time Bidding (RTB) is a huge breakthrough trend positioned to solve fragmentation—but it’s not the RTB you remember. This isn’t about cheap remnant inventory, opaque auctions, or poor targeting.

This is a new wave of RTB, built specifically for on-site Sponsored Products with:

• Ultra-low latency (under 30ms response times)

• Cloud-native, co-located infrastructure for performance

• Relevance-first, dynamic ad serving tech

RTB is democratizing retail media in a few ways:

• Brands will access retailer inventory more easily, from platforms where they already spend.

• Retailers will unlock demand from a broader set of advertisers, including smaller brands that couldn’t access them before.

• And the entire ecosystem will move closer to a more open, standardized landscape—finally breaking through the walled garden deadlock.

Pentaleap has been RTB-native from day one. We’re already live with 17 retailers—and what we’re seeing is clear: this model works. It’s faster, fairer, and more flexible

1. What are the most common signs that indicate a lead might be fraudulent?

A lot of businesses first realize something’s wrong when they spot obviously fake or incomplete info in a lead. That part’s easy to catch. But what tends to slip through the cracks are unusual patterns in user behavior - stuff that normal users just wouldn’t do. We’ve seen cases where fraud came from competitors or even unknown attackers. That’s actually one of the reasons we created our Fake Lead Protection service to help tackle this problem from the ground up.

2. What methods are currently used across the industry to verify and authenticate leads in digital marketing?

There are some go-to methods out there—things like lead scoring tools, call validation, double opt-ins, and data verification systems. But honestly, the reality is that a lot of companies still can’t fully connect their ad data to what’s happening with actual leads. Because of that gap, fake leads can sneak in, mess with your metrics, and waste your marketing spend. What’s really needed is a setup that ties everything together—so ad data and lead data actually talk to each other—and makes lead verification more precise.

3. What role do AI and machine learning play in detecting and preventing ad fraud in lead generation?

AI and machine learning have really changed the game. They’re great at catching things like botnets and attribution fraud that older methods might miss, and they work in real time. But they’re not a silver bullet. To really be effective, you need to mix AI with more traditional, rule-based approaches—like using blacklists or behavior-based detection. It’s that combination that gives you a reliable fraud defense.

4. How do evolving data privacy regulations influence the approach businesses take toward lead verification and fraud prevention?

It’s true regulations like GDPR or CCPA have definitely made things trickier when it comes to verifying leads and preventing fraud. But that doesn’t mean fraud prevention is off the table. Just like laws don’t stop crime entirely, these rules don’t make fraud go away. What’s important is that businesses work within those boundaries to reduce fraud and keep their marketing practices clean and transparent.

5. What emerging ad fraud tactics should businesses be aware of, and how can they proactively mitigate these risks?

Fraud is getting more and more sophisticated lately. Traditional countermeasures just don’t cut it anymore. One wild example we’ve seen is with brick-and-mortar businesses—fraudsters actually hire people to walk into stores just to trigger “store visit” conversions. On paper, it looks like a successful ad result, so advertisers end up paying out. But it’s fake. These kinds of scams are hard to catch just by looking at lead info. That’s why it’s so important to dig deeper—analyze user behavior, be selective about ad placements, and use solid fraud prevention tools. It’s the only way to run smarter, cleaner campaigns.

6. What key factors should businesses consider when selecting a fraud prevention solution for their digital campaigns?

As ad fraud keeps getting more advanced, picking the right solution is critical—not just to protect your brand, but also to make sure you’re actually getting a return on your ad spend. Transparency is a big one. Some tools are basically black boxes—you don’t really know how they’re detecting fraud, which makes it tough to trust the data. You want a solution that clearly explains what metrics it uses, offers real-time data visualization, and presents everything in a way your marketing team can understand. Tools like Spider AF do a great job of that—it’s all about giving teams the visibility they need to take action confidently.

7. What are the most relevant KPIs for evaluating the success of fraud detection and mitigation strategies?

To really know if your anti-fraud strategy is working, you can’t just look at the number of leads—you need to look at the quality. One key metric is conversion rate: if that improves after filtering out fake leads, it’s a good sign your lead quality is up. Another is the fraudulent lead rate—how many of your leads are actually fake? And of course, there’s the cost angle: are you spending less time and money chasing bad leads? If all three of those are heading in the right direction, your strategy’s probably on point.

8. How do you see fraud prevention evolving over the next five years, and what innovations could reshape the industry?

We’re already seeing fraudsters using AI to optimize their tactics—they’re even building their own SSPs and manipulating ad placements and IPs to maximize profits. It’s only going to get more sophisticated from here, and that means traditional rule-based detection just won’t be enough. But it’s not just about upgrading the tech. Everyone involved in digital business needs to level up their awareness and make fraud prevention part of their everyday mindset. As an industry, we’ve got to treat marketing security as a shared responsibility if we want a healthier, more trustworthy ecosystem.

Spider AF is a globally recognized, real-time ad fraud protection tool. They are currently offering a free trial for their service. For more information, go to: https://spideraf.com/