Vizio's Inscape Data Will Be Exclusively Available in Verizon Media's DSP

Starting in 2022, Vizio will make its smart TV viewership data available exclusively within Verizon Media’s demand-side platform (DSP), another example of connected TV platforms recognizing the value of their proprietary audience insights. Recently, big CTV platforms that control the smart TV operating system have been building up their walls by limiting access to their viewership data. Whether through acquisitions, partnerships or internal development, DSPs are becoming important fixtures for these platforms, luring ad buyers with the promise of data that can’t be found anywhere else. Vizio’s TV viewership data, which is sold under the Inscape business, is immediately available within Verizon Media’s DSP. Currently, it is still available in other DSPs until those licensing contracts wind down by the end of the year. The DSP space has quickly consolidated Hockersmith said the company has been developing “fewer, bigger” Inscape partnerships since the data unit was folded into Vizio’s broader ad business as part of a reorganization late last year. Adweek previously reported that Vizio had been limiting use cases of Inscape data, specifically for targeting purposes, in order to avoid conflicts with its in-house ad sales efforts. Hockersmith confirmed with Adweek that Vizio is still licensing Inscape data for other use cases like measurement and analytics. Vizio, which went public in March at a valuation of $4.2 billion, is one of several competing CTV platforms building out their DSPs. Amazon, Roku and Samsung have all recently bought or built their own DSPs, the only place where targeting data for their unique audiences can be found and activated on. Hockersmith said the DSP space has consolidated quickly, so partnering with a company like Verizon Media was the best approach. "I don't think that there are a lot of very good DSPs that are available to be acquired," Hockersmith said. "To get the tech that we need to continue to drive our Vizio Ads business, a partnership strategy with a major DSP is the right approach for us right now." Omnichannel DSP or direct device DSP As big CTV players build their automated ad buying platforms, marketers will generally be faced with two different ways to programmatically purchase such inventory: Across an omnichannel DSP that can offer overarching frequency management and measurement, or directly from each individual CTV device owner’s DSP, where exclusive data and inventory are available. “I think that as the market evolves, you are going to have both, because there's different customer situations and different ... audiences needs and so on, where one answer is more valuable than the other,” said Iván Markman, chief business officer of Verizon Media. As part of the deal, Verizon Media will also be the preferred supply-side platform for Vizio, meaning Verizon Media has the first right to programmatically sell whatever inventory Vizio’s sales team hasn’t. Vizio has around 30 million smart TVs in the U.S., and Inscape’s footprint covers 18 million opted-in Vizio smart TVs. Editor's note: Travis Hockersmith, vp of Vizio’s Platform Plus business, clarified to Adweek that while Verizon Media will be the exclusive DSP for Inscape targeting data, Vizio is still licensing it for some outside targeting use cases. "It is a key ingredient for networks delivering addressable linear using the OAR protocol, for instance," he said, referring to the Vizio-led Project OAR initiative. Vizio’s IPO Reveals How It Wants to Take on Connected TV Giants