Research finds Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) apps accounted for 25% of open programmatic ad spend among Samsung Smart TV apps in Q4 2023, higher than the global average across all CTV platforms (17%); Samsung Smart TV Plus, Vix, Pluto TV ranked as top three grossing FAST apps on the Samsung Smart TV platform, according to Pixalate’s open programmatic ad spend estimates
LONDON, April 4, 2024 -- Pixalate, the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, today released the Q4 2023 Global Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) Apps Rankings and Traffic Analysis Report for Samsung Smart TV. Pixalate also published Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV versions of the report.
To compile these reports, Pixalate’s data science team analyzed 6+ billion open programmatic advertising transactions across 13k+ CTV Bundle IDs, which map to 6k+ unique CTV apps. The research uncovers the programmatic advertising insights of FAST apps - including ad spend trends, invalid traffic (IVT, including ad fraud), and top-grossing FAST apps - across Samsung Smart TV devices in Q4 2023.
“The trend of ‘cutting the cord’ has surged in recent years, resulting in a plethora of streaming services,” said Amit Shetty, VP of Product at Pixalate. “This surge has evoked a sentiment akin to the rising costs reminiscent of traditional cable bundles. FAST apps appear to be thriving in response to this sentiment, providing users with free (albeit ad-supported) video streaming services.”
Download the full report to see the top 25 grossing FAST apps on Samsung Smart TV in Q4 2023. “Top-grossing” is based on Pixalate’s open programmatic ad spend estimates.
FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) apps offer viewers access to "linear" video content presented in a channel-based format without the burden of subscription fees. Unlike streaming platforms that rely on viewer subscriptions, the FAST apps model is sustained by advertising revenue providing users with free, ad-supported video streaming services.
The adoption of FAST apps markedly increased during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising costs of subscription-based streaming platforms have continued the growth of the FAST app user base, making this model attractive to advertisers seeking to reach diverse audiences.
According to Pixalate’s research, FAST apps now account for 17% of the total global open programmatic ad spend on CTV devices.
About Pixalate
Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com
Disclaimer
The content of this press release, and the Q4 2023 FAST Apps Rankings & Traffic Analysis Reports, reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to programmatic advertising activity across in the time period studied. For this press release and the Q4 2023 FAST Apps Rankings & Traffic Analysis Reports, open programmatic ads sold, as measured by Pixalate, are used as a proxy to generate ad spend estimates.
