With the rise of streaming services, video consumption has been steadily increasing over the last few years. Between 2021 and 2022 alone, it has been shown that the American public video consumption has risen 18%. 

 

Interestingly enough, TV remains the main place Americans are watching video content. Indeed, 65% of video streaming happens on mobile and TV apps rather than on browsers. And marketers are taking notice, as close to 52% of the Over-the-Top (OTT) revenue owing to advertisement.

 

What about consent? If you’ve done any internet browsing in Europe these past few years (and if you’re reading this blog, let’s be honest), you’re already familiar with consent banners (also called consent notices). They’ve become a critical aspect of the data privacy landscape and aren’t going anywhere: With new U.S. regulations that will require an opt-in from consumers for data collection, these banners are likely to increasingly cross the Atlantic in the coming years.

 

In addition to regulatory requirements, consent banners also play a role in helping brands understand customers needs and showcasing a personalized on-screen experience. In this article, we take a look at how businesses can collect consent on connected TVs (CTV), and provide best practices and examples for you to get started.

 

Summary

 

 

 

What are Connected TV (CTV) and OTT apps?

 

CTV refers to internet-connected devices one can use to watch TV or video online. This is not limited to smart TVs, as it can also be a gaming console, TV sticks, streaming device, and more. Essentially, whether you’re streaming video content from your smart TV, using a Roku or Amazon Fire device, or a Playstation for example, you’re using CTV.

 

On the other hand, OTT stands for “Over-the-Top”, and refers to streaming services that can deliver video content directly on the internet, bypassing traditional cable, satellite and broadcasting television. Some of the main players of this space include Hulu, Netflix,, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and more.

 

Didomi - CTV devices and platforms

 

Over the past decade, video streaming and CTV has risen dramatically and become a mainstay in households around the world.

 

Research has shown that in 2021, there were 6.64 billion smartphones capable of running apps around the world, and 83.72% of the world’s population owned one. In the United Kingdom for example, 82% of the population own a smartphone, 63% have an internet-enabled TV, and 41% own a gaming console connected to the internet.

 

As a result, Connected TV advertising has also picked up the pace: programmatic impressions of marketing campaigns increased by 207% on connected TVs in the USA in 2021. 

 

While this is a great opportunity for advertisers, this also poses the question of data privacy and consumer rights: In order to display targeted content and personalized ads, consent is required by a number of regulations including Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and some of the upcoming U.S consumer data privacy laws.

 

The solution is to display a consent banner (also called consent notice) offering consumers options according to applicable data privacy regulations, and ensuring that user choices are respected.

 

How to create a consent notice for CTV and OTT apps 

 

Didomi allows you to create a consent notice (also called consent banner) to collect consent in Connected TV apps (CTV). To do so as a Didomi customer, all you have to do is head to your Didomi Console, create a new notice and select the “TV App” environment. 

 

Didomi - CTV onboarding

 

You are now able to create a unique consent notice for CTV in 3 main ways:

 

  • Look and feel: Didomi then lets you define the look and feel of your notice, by setting up your own logo, changing the language of the notice, customizing the text, and more.

  • Vendors and purposes: You have the ability to add partners present on your CTV app in order to collect consent for them. Additionally, you can link a vendor to a customized purpose and choose the legal basis for it (consent or legitimate interest).

  • Behavior: Finally, you're able to configure specific behavior for your notice. For example, you could display a specific notice by location, or choose the amount of days after which you wish to re-display the consent notice.

For more details about how to set up your consent notice on CTV with Didomi, head to our documentation.

 

Start collecting consent and preferences from connected TV (CTV) and OTT apps today 

 

You should now be equipped to start building consent banners for your CTV and OTT apps. However, beyond the technical side of it, make sure you keep sound best practices in mind when doing so. To create an effective and engaging banner for your CTV or OTT app, make sure to:

 

  • Always keep User Experience (UX) in mind: TV environments are unique and should be treated as such. Users will be browsing your consent notices with their remote control, an entirely different experience than on the phone or on a laptop.

    Think outside of the box! For example, Didomi offers the ability to display a QR code, so users can switch over to their mobile for convenience.

  • Leverage cross-device capabilities: Your users will use multiple devices and platforms to login into your environment: Mobile, CTV, laptop, tablet… Consent fatigue is real, and offering cross-device consent is a great way to ensure that users don’t have to consent again every single time they login from a different environment.

  • Go further than consent: Finally, and while consent is a legal obligation and a necessity to be able to respect your users’ choices, collecting their preferences offer a way to provide them with an even more personalized experience.

    The Preference Management Platform (PMP) for CTV allows you to do that and more, collecting user preferences at scale and syncing that data with the rest of your tech stack for ultra-targeted, effective marketing experiences.

To continue exploring how you can create consent banners for CTV and OTT apps and see how Didomi can help with your privacy challenges, head to our dedicated page:

 

Learn more about Didomi's CMP for CTV