Inside CTV Certified Supply: How Streaming Publishers Are Replacing Resellers With Direct, Audited Programmatic Deals

Introduction: CTV Supply Grew Up Fast, Then Got Messy

Connected TV went from experiment to essential channel in a few short years. Streaming audiences scaled faster than the pipes and policies built to monetize them, and the result was predictable: complex supply chains, sprawling reseller networks, opaque fees, and too many parties touching the same impression. On the buy side, this drove a wave of Supply Path Optimization (SPO) and a hard pivot away from uncontrolled CTV reselling. On the sell side, serious streaming publishers started asking a blunt question: If buyers want fewer hops and more transparency, why are we still letting so many resellers sit between us and the budget? That question is the heart of the shift to what many now call certified CTV supply. In practice, it means:

Direct programmatic connections: Fewer hops between publisher and buyer, with a clear line of commercial accountability.
Auditable, standards-based supply chains: ads.txt / app-ads.txt, sellers.json, supplychain object, TAG programs, and log-level validation.
Curated, policy-enforced inventory: Inventory that is verified, rights-cleared, brand safe, and consistently measured.

For a company like Red Volcano, which specializes in web, app, and CTV publisher research tools for the supply side of ad tech, this movement is not just a trend. It is a structural re-architecture of how CTV supply is discovered, verified, packaged, and monitored. This article goes inside that transformation: how certified CTV supply actually works, why resellers are being pushed to the margins, and what publishers, SSPs, and intermediaries need to build if they want to stay relevant in a world of direct, audited programmatic deals.

From Wild West To Certified Supply: How We Got Here

To understand why certified supply is resonating in CTV, it helps to recap how we ended up in this position.

Phase 1: Scarcity, Sponsorships, And Direct IOs

In the early streaming era, premium CTV inventory was scarce and sold like TV. Publishers leaned on:

Sponsorships and high-touch IOs: Direct deals for tentpole shows, major events, or new app launches.
Primitive ad servers: Often stitched into OTT apps or MVPD / vMVPD platforms with limited dynamic decisioning.
Very little programmatic: RTB pipes were nascent or treated as remnant, with tight caps and heavy manual controls.

The result: buyers saw CTV as high-impact, but hard to scale and hard to optimize with the tooling they used on web and mobile.

Phase 2: Growth Spurts And Reseller Explosion

As more streaming apps, FAST channels, and OEM platforms came online, the demand to scale CTV programmatically exploded. Publishers, SSPs, and intermediaries responded in the fastest way possible:

More SSP integrations to reach more DSPs without rebuilding every relationship directly.
Channel partners and networks that promised fill, demand diversity, and yield maximization through aggregation.
OTT resellers and “sub-publishers” packaging other people’s inventory and re-selling it under their own seat IDs.

On paper, this looked efficient. In reality, it created several systemic issues:

Opaque supply paths: The same impression could appear through 5 different supply chains, often with inconsistent or inaccurate metadata.
Hidden fees and arbitrage: Each hop took a margin, and some resellers focused more on spread than on value.
Increased fraud and misrepresentation: App spoofing, device spoofing, and misdeclared inventory were easier to hide inside complex chains.

For buyers trying to invest serious brand budgets in CTV, this was a problem.

Phase 3: SPO, Standards, And The CTV Reality Check

On the buy side, large DSPs and agencies reacted with aggressive SPO strategies and data science initiatives that tried to identify the "cleanest" paths to real publishers. On the standards front, IAB Tech Lab and others pushed tools like:

ads.txt / app-ads.txt: To declare who is authorized to sell a publisher’s inventory.
sellers.json: To identify sellers and intermediaries in a transparent, machine-readable way.
OpenRTB supplychain object (schain): To show the full path an impression takes from publisher to buyer.

CTV lagged slightly in adoption, but the pressure rose quickly. Once buyers started to say "we will only buy CTV through direct or vetted supply paths", publishers were forced to re-examine their reseller-heavy setups. This is where certified supply emerges: a new baseline for what "good" CTV programmatic looks like.

What Certified CTV Supply Actually Means

"Certified supply" sounds like marketing at first. In practice, it is a fairly concrete operating model that touches commercial strategy, technology, and data governance. At its core, certified CTV supply is:

CTV inventory that flows through direct or tightly controlled programmatic pipes, backed by transparent identifiers, verified seller relationships, auditable logs, and defined commercial and quality standards. We can break that into a set of building blocks.

1. Directness As A First-Order Principle

The first question any SPO-minded buyer asks is simple: Are you the publisher, or are you reselling someone else’s inventory? In certified CTV supply, the default answer should be:

Direct seller: The seat in the bid request maps to the entity with commercial rights to the inventory (publisher, network, or platform) rather than a chain of intermediaries.

Limited, transparent intermediaries: When intermediaries are present, they are clearly labeled, disclosed in sellers.json / schain, and connected to real value (e.g., data, measurement, or specific distribution relationships).

This does not mean "no resellers allowed". It means resellers that do nothing but add hops and take margin are inconsistent with certified CTV supply.

2. Standards-Based Auditability

Certified supply hinges on machine-readable transparency. Human promises and slideware are not enough. The foundation is the standards stack many in ad tech already know, adapted correctly for CTV:

app-ads.txt for OTT and CTV apps: A clear, up-to-date declaration of which SSPs, networks, and platforms are authorized to sell inventory for a specific app or channel.

sellers.json and schain: Accurate representation of direct sellers, intermediaries, and supply paths, including proper flags for reseller vs publisher.

Consistent publisher identifiers: Stable IDs for apps, channels, device platforms, and linear streams (where relevant) to avoid ambiguity.

On top of that, serious certified supply programs add contractual and data-level audit rights: log-level access, alignment with fraud standards such as TAG Certified Against Fraud, and integration with measurement/verification partners.

3. Policy, Eligibility, And Quality Controls

Certified CTV supply also encodes what is eligible to flow into premium pipes. This typically includes:

Content eligibility: Only specific apps, channels, or programs are allowed into a certified marketplace or deal.

Rights and distribution checks: Validation that the seller has rights to distribute the content and monetize it in the geos and platforms being targeted.

Brand safety and suitability rules: Alignment to frameworks like GARM categories, plus any custom publisher or buyer requirements.

Measurement and viewability baselines: Pre-agreed metrics and vendors for verification.

This shifts CTV programmatic from "we will take whatever flows through the pipe" to "we will expose only inventory that meets a defined standard".

4. Commercial Clarity

Finally, certified supply programs usually include more explicit commercial structures:

Transparent economics: Clear take rates per hop, standardized floors, and removal of hidden arbitrage.

Preferred or curated deals: Private marketplaces, programmatic guaranteed, or curated marketplaces that sit on top of direct paths.

Data and log rights: Agreed frameworks for log-level sharing, data usage, and privacy compliance.

For publishers, this means reclaiming margin that previously leaked to low-value resellers. For buyers, it means knowing where their media dollars go and having confidence that "premium CTV" actually means something.

Why Streaming Publishers Are Replacing Resellers

Resellers do not disappear in a day. But a clear pattern has emerged in advanced CTV markets: publishers are actively reducing the number of intermediaries and tightening rules for who can touch their supply. There are four main drivers.

1. Margin Recapture And Yield Discipline

Every extra hop is an economic tax. In many CTV supply chains, that tax can be surprisingly high. When publishers rationalize partners and move to direct, audited programmatic deals, they typically see:

Higher effective CPMs as buyers gain confidence and shift budget into cleaner paths.

Reduced "tech tax" by cutting off resellers who add little value relative to their fees.

More predictable revenue via direct relationships that are easier to forecast and optimize.

For large streaming services and FAST networks, the scale of these gains makes the operational work worthwhile.

2. Meeting Buyer SPO Demands

Top DSPs and agencies have built increasingly sophisticated SPO programs. They identify preferred SSPs and direct publisher relationships, then systematically shift spend away from indirect or questionable paths. Publishers who cannot show:

Clean app-ads.txt files

Accurate sellers.json entries

Consistent schain objects that confirm directness

risk being deprioritized no matter how strong their content is. Replacing resellers with direct, audited deals is often the fastest way to align with buyer SPO rules and to unlock incremental budget.

3. Brand Safety, Fraud, And Reputation

CTV fraud and misrepresentation are real concerns: spoofed apps, invalid SSAI traffic, and misdeclared channels can all hide inside complex supply chains. By tightening to certified supply:

Publishers protect their brands from being associated with questionable practices or low-quality environments.

They reduce exposure to IVT and measurement disputes, especially when paired with TAG, MRC, and verification partnerships.

They can credibly market “clean CTV”, backed by technical evidence and third-party attestations.

This is not just compliance. It is a monetization strategy built on trust.

4. Strategic Control Of Distribution

Reseller-heavy setups can erode a publisher’s control over where and how their inventory appears. When anyone can "sub-publish" your content through their seat, you lose visibility over:

Which buyers see your inventory under what label

How your data is combined, enriched, or re-sold

Where quality problems or pricing anomalies originate

Direct, certified supply restores that control. Publishers can define clear distribution tiers: direct programmatic, curated intermediaries with audited roles, and everything else that sits outside the certified perimeter.

Inside The Plumbing: Technical Foundations Of Certified CTV Supply

Under the hood, certified supply is largely a data and standards problem. For CTV, three technical components are especially important: app-ads.txt, sellers.json, and the supplychain object.

app-ads.txt For CTV Apps

For CTV and OTT environments, app-ads.txt is the canonical source of truth for authorized sellers. On a publisher’s primary domain (or designated domain), you will find a file like:
# app-ads.txt for ExampleStream CTV App
example-ssp.com, 1234, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0
trusted-ssp.tv, 5678, DIRECT, a9f5e9590bfc5a3d
specialist-network.com, 9999, RESELLER, 5d62403b186f2c35
Key aspects for CTV certified supply:

DIRECT vs RESELLER accuracy: Mislabeling resellers as direct undermines the entire concept of certification.

Coverage of all apps and channels: Many streaming portfolios include multiple apps, FAST channels, and distribution endpoints. Each needs accurate app-ads.txt entries.

Operational governance: A clear process to add, review, and remove sellers as relationships evolve.

A certified supply program will typically audit app-ads.txt regularly, compare it against live traffic, and reconcile inconsistencies. That is exactly the kind of intelligence a platform like Red Volcano can surface at scale for SSPs and buyers.

sellers.json And Transparent Seller Identities

On the SSP or intermediary side, sellers.json declares who is selling inventory through that platform. An example entry might look like:
{
"seller_id": "1234",
"name": "ExampleStream Inc.",
"domain": "examplestream.tv",
"seller_type": "PUBLISHER"
}
For a reseller:
{
"seller_id": "9999",
"name": "Specialist Network LLC",
"domain": "specialist-network.com",
"seller_type": "INTERMEDIARY"
}
For certified CTV supply, publishers and their preferred SSPs should focus on:

Consistency between app-ads.txt and sellers.json so buyers see the same relationships in both places.

Accurate seller_type flags to make it easy for SPO systems to distinguish publishers, networks, and intermediaries.

Clear mapping of channels and brands to corporate entities to avoid "mystery sellers" with no obvious connection to known media owners.

Again, data intelligence that maps apps, channels, corporate structures, and seller IDs is critical. That is a core competency for a research platform like Red Volcano.

supplychain Object: Showing The Full Path

The OpenRTB supplychain object (schain) shows the full sequence of sellers who touched an impression. A simplified CTV schain might look like:
{
"schain": {
"complete": 1,
"nodes": [
{
"asi": "example-ssp.com",
"sid": "1234",
"hp": 1
},
{
"asi": "specialist-network.com",
"sid": "9999",
"hp": 0
}
],
"ver": "1.0"
}
}
In certified CTV supply, you expect:

Shorter chains, often a single hop from publisher to SSP.

Transparent value-add nodes, where intermediaries exist for a documented reason (e.g., OEM distribution, joint ventures, or specific data layers).

Alignment with contractual reality, so the schain matches how rights, responsibilities, and economics actually work.

Buyers can score or filter inventory based on schain attributes. Publishers who eliminate unnecessary hops and expose accurate schains effectively "show their work" and are rewarded in SPO models.

Example: Simple Certified Supply Validator

To operationalize certified supply, many organizations build internal tooling to validate whether a given CTV impression is on a certified path. At a basic level, the logic might look like this (pseudo-Python):
AUTHORIZED_SELLERS = load_app_ads_txt("examplestream.tv")
PREFERRED_SSP_IDS = {"example-ssp.com:1234", "trusted-ssp.tv:5678"}
def is_certified_ctv_impression(bid_request):
app_domain = bid_request["app"]["bundle"]  # or app store ID
ssp_domain = bid_request["source"]["ext"]["schain"]["nodes"][0]["asi"]
seller_id = bid_request["source"]["ext"]["schain"]["nodes"][0]["sid"]
seat_key = f"{ssp_domain}:{seller_id}"
# Check if seller is authorized for this app
if seat_key not in AUTHORIZED_SELLERS:
return False
# Check if seat is on preferred SSP list
if seat_key not in PREFERRED_SSP_IDS:
return False
# Additional checks: TAG status, brand safety, region, etc.
return True
In reality, production systems incorporate many more rules and data sets. The core idea is the same: use app-ads.txt, sellers.json, and schain together to decide whether an impression qualifies as "certified supply". Red Volcano type platforms help by providing the raw intelligence these functions need: accurate mappings of apps, domains, sellers, technologies, and ownership structures.

Economic And Strategic Impacts: Who Wins When Resellers Shrink

Replacing resellers with direct, audited deals is not just a technical clean-up. It has real economic and strategic consequences across the ecosystem.

For Streaming Publishers And Broadcasters

For publishers, certified supply is fundamentally about value capture and control.

Higher margins: Less leakage to opaque intermediaries and more direct participation in programmatic economics.

Better buyer relationships: Direct lines to agencies and brands, often with co-developed private marketplaces or programmatic guaranteed deals.

Cleaner data loops: More consistent log-level data and clearer mapping between supply behavior and revenue outcomes.

Stronger negotiating position: When you can prove your supply is clean, unique, and direct, it is much easier to hold rate and resist unnecessary channel conflict.

The trade-off is operational complexity. Certified supply requires investment in:

Ad operations and yield teams who understand standards and data

Engineering resources to maintain integrations and quality signals

Governance processes for partner onboarding and auditing

Well-run publishers treat this as core infrastructure, not a side project.

For SSPs And CTV Platforms

SSPs feel this shift acutely. In a world where buyers want fewer supply paths, SSPs win by becoming trusted certified supply partners, not by maximizing raw connection counts. That means:

Deep, direct integrations with priority publishers including log-level feeds, custom deals infrastructure, and shared SPO strategies.

Strong transparency tooling so buyers can see and control where their bids go.

Active pruning of low-value resellers from their own marketplaces.

Investment in CTV-specific capabilities like SSAI fraud detection, CTV ID handling, and channel-level reporting.

Platforms that cling to reseller-heavy models risk being de-prioritized in SPO analyses. Those that partner with publisher intelligence tools like Red Volcano can proactively map and optimize their supply footprint.

For Intermediaries And Networks

Not all resellers are doomed. But they are under pressure to justify their existence. To survive in a certified supply world, intermediaries need to deliver:

Unique reach or rights that publishers cannot achieve alone (e.g., OEM-level inventory, cross-publisher packaging with consistent data layers).

Specialized data or measurement that materially improves performance or accountability.

Operational or technical capabilities that smaller publishers cannot build in-house (for example, SSAI at scale for niche channels).

In practice, many intermediaries will either:

Pivot into clearly defined, value-adding roles with full transparency, or

Be removed from premium supply paths and relegated to fringe or remnant roles.

Certified supply is a forcing function. You either become part of the value stack, or you are gradually removed from the path.

The Role Of Intelligence Platforms Like Red Volcano

Certified supply lives and dies on data quality. You cannot certify what you cannot see. This is where specialized publisher research and data intelligence platforms, such as Red Volcano, become essential infrastructure for SSPs, CTV platforms, and advanced publishers.

Mapping The CTV Supply Landscape

A core challenge in CTV is simply understanding who is who:

Which apps and channels belong to which media groups?

Which domains and app IDs map to a given streaming brand?

Which SSPs, SDKs, and ad servers are present in each environment?

Red Volcano is designed to answer exactly these questions across web, app, and CTV, by tracking technologies, ownership structures, and monetization setups. This intelligence lets SSPs and publishers:

Identify overlap and duplication across their CTV supply footprint.

Detect unauthorized or risky reselling when inventory shows up through unexpected sellers.

Benchmark themselves against peers in terms of tech stack, partner mix, and directness of supply paths.

Automating Partner Audits And Certified Supply Checks

Once you can map the landscape, you can start to automate certified supply workflows. For example:
-- Example: Find all CTV apps from a given publisher that are sold via more than 3 intermediaries
SELECT
publisher_name,
app_name,
COUNT(DISTINCT seller_id) AS unique_sellers
FROM
red_volcano_ctv_inventory_view
WHERE
publisher_group = 'Example Media Group'
AND device_type = 'CTV'
GROUP BY
publisher_name,
app_name
HAVING
COUNT(DISTINCT seller_id) > 3
ORDER BY
unique_sellers DESC;
A query like this, running against an intelligence dataset, can quickly highlight where reseller sprawl still exists and where to focus cleanup efforts. Similarly, an SSP could build dashboards that show:

Which CTV apps have incomplete or inconsistent app-ads.txt entries.

Which sellers.json entries reference mystery domains with no clear publisher mapping.

Which supply paths have more than a defined number of hops in schain objects.

Red Volcano’s role is to provide the structured data and discovery capabilities that make these diagnostics fast and reliable.

Supporting Sales And GTM For Certified Supply

Certified supply is also a story that needs to be told well. Publisher and SSP sales teams can use intelligence to:

Demonstrate coverage of premium CTV publishers with validated direct connections.

Showcase before-and-after views of supply path clean ups and reseller reductions.

Build curated marketplaces or packages with documented inclusion criteria based on data, not marketing claims.

This closes the loop: intelligence informs technical clean-up, and the results feed back into commercial narratives that win incremental spend.

Practical Roadmap: How A Streaming Publisher Moves To Certified Supply

Moving from a reseller-heavy world to certified, direct CTV supply does not require a big bang. The most successful publishers follow a phased roadmap that balances risk, revenue, and operational capacity.

Phase 1: Visibility And Baseline

You cannot clean what you cannot see. In this phase, publishers:

Inventory their current supply landscape: All apps, channels, platforms, and partner integrations.

Map all active programmatic paths: SSPs, networks, resellers, and their respective roles.

Audit app-ads.txt and sellers.json: Check for accuracy, gaps, and outdated relationships.

Gather buyer feedback: Understand which supply paths buyers prefer or avoid.

Tools like Red Volcano help automate much of this discovery across web, app, and CTV endpoints.

Phase 2: Rationalization And Policy

With a baseline in place, publishers can start to make structural decisions:

Prioritize a smaller set of strategic SSP partners, ideally those already favored in buyer SPO programs.

Define the role of intermediaries: What value do they need to provide to stay on the roster?

Update app-ads.txt to reflect the new distribution policy, removing deprecated or low-value sellers.

Align with SSPs on sellers.json and schain so that declared relationships match the new reality.

At this stage, revenue impact should be monitored carefully. Some publishers run A/B experiments where certain channels move to certified-only supply paths while others remain in legacy setups, to measure the effect on fill and CPMs.

Phase 3: Certified Deals And Marketplace Positioning

Once the technical and policy foundation is in place, the publisher can go to market with a clear certified supply story:

Launch private marketplaces and programmatic guaranteed deals that explicitly promise certified, direct CTV supply.

Co-market with SSP partners as preferred certified supply routes, aligned with buyer SPO initiatives.

Offer log-level transparency and joint analytics to strategic buyers who value deeper insights.

Introduce curated CTV packages by genre, audience, or context, built exclusively on certified inventory.

At this stage, many publishers also align with TAG or similar programs to add external credibility to their certified supply claims.

Phase 4: Continuous Monitoring And Optimization

Certified supply is not "set and forget". New apps launch, new distribution deals are signed, and new intermediaries emerge. Ongoing success requires:

Regular audits of app-ads.txt, sellers.json, and live traffic.

Monitoring of SPO behavior from DSPs to ensure preferred paths remain preferred.

Feedback loops with buyers and SSP partners to catch emerging issues early.

Benchmarking against industry peers and competitors, using independent intelligence sources.

Red Volcano style tools become part of the publisher’s operational stack, not just one-off research aids.

Guidance For SSPs And Ad Tech Vendors

The certified supply shift is not only a publisher problem. SSPs, analytics vendors, and other supply side platforms need their own strategy.

Become The Certified Supply Partner, Not The Middle Hop

SSPs should focus on being the first hop from publisher to demand, not another node downstream of a reseller. That means:

Signing direct deals with publishers and CTV platforms rather than relying on sub-publisher relationships.

Helping publishers clean and maintain app-ads.txt and sellers.json as part of account management.

Providing transparency tooling for both publishers and buyers, exposing schain data and seller-level economics.

This elevates the SSP from commodity pipe to strategic infrastructure partner.

Build Certified Supply Analytics Into Your Product

SSPs can differentiate by giving clients real visibility into certified vs non-certified paths. For example:
-- Example: SSP-side view of certified vs non-certified CTV impressions
SELECT
CASE WHEN is_certified_ctv_impression(bid_request) THEN 'certified' ELSE 'non_certified' END AS supply_status,
COUNT(*) AS impressions,
AVG(cpm) AS avg_cpm
FROM
ssp_bid_stream
WHERE
device_type = 'CTV'
GROUP BY
supply_status;
With this kind of data, SSPs can:

Show publishers the uplift from moving more inventory into certified status.

Show buyers the share of spend that already flows through clean paths.

Optimize auction logic to favor certified supply when multiple paths exist.

External intelligence sources like Red Volcano provide enrichment and validation that strengthen these analytics.

Partner Strategically With Intelligence Providers

Rather than trying to build every data asset in-house, SSPs can:

Integrate publisher intelligence APIs for domain/app to publisher mapping, tech stack data, and ownership.

Use external coverage to find gaps in their CTV supply and identify high-value publishers not yet onboarded.

Feed intelligence into SPO partnerships with DSPs and agencies, backed by third-party validation.

In a market where "who you represent" and "how cleaned up your supply is" are competitive levers, credible data is a core differentiator.

Looking Ahead: The Future Of Certified CTV Supply

Certified supply is not a static endpoint. CTV remains one of the most dynamic parts of advertising, with several forces shaping what certification will mean in the next few years.

Convergence With Addressability And Privacy

As CTV moves deeper into addressable and audience-based buying, certified supply will expand from "who sells this impression" to "how is data collected, processed, and applied along the path". We can expect:

More privacy-centric IDs and clean room integrations being part of certified supply definitions.

Stronger rules around data leakage and reuse, especially for household-level signals.

Cross-channel certification frameworks that unify expectations across CTV, web, and mobile, so buy side teams have one set of standards.

Platforms like Red Volcano will need to track not only monetization technologies, but also data and identity technologies present in the publisher stack.

OEMs, Aggregators, And New Gatekeepers

TV OEMs, operating system owners, and large aggregators (including FAST platform operators) will continue to play crucial roles in CTV supply. Certified supply in this context will need to distinguish among:

First-party OEM inventory such as home screen placements and proprietary channels.

Distribution of third-party apps and channels where rights and economics differ.

Hybrid models where OEMs and publishers share control over monetization.

Schain and sellers.json will become even more important as these multi-layered relationships proliferate. Independent research tools will need to untangle increasingly complex ownership and monetization structures.

Curated Marketplaces: The Next Generation Of "Reseller"?

Curated marketplaces and audience-based programs raise an important question: Are they value-adding layers, or just resellers with better branding? The answer will depend on how they handle certified supply principles:

Do they operate on top of direct, auditable paths or do they introduce more opaque hops?

Do they add real data, measurement, or quality controls beyond what publishers and SSPs already offer?

Do they provide transparent economics and governance to buyers and sellers?

Well-implemented curated marketplaces can be powerful amplifiers of certified supply. Poorly implemented ones will be treated as yet another reseller layer and likely excluded from premium SPO frameworks.

Conclusion: Certified Supply As The CTV Operating System

Certified CTV supply is not simply a compliance project or a temporary optimization trend. It is becoming the default operating system for how serious streaming publishers, SSPs, and buyers transact. By replacing uncontrolled resellers with direct, audited programmatic deals, publishers:

Reclaim margin that once leaked to low-value intermediaries.

Restore control over where and how their content and data are monetized.

Provide buyers with the transparency and trust needed to scale CTV investment.

On the buy side, certified supply aligns with SPO, brand safety, and performance goals. On the tech side, it unlocks richer analytics and tighter feedback loops because the underlying data is cleaner and better structured. For Red Volcano and similar intelligence platforms, this shift is an opportunity and a responsibility. Certified supply cannot function without accurate, up-to-date insight into who publishers are, how they monetize, which technologies they use, and where resellers or intermediaries still sit in the chain. The next generation of CTV leaders, on both the sell and supply side, will be those who:

Invest in transparent, standards-based infrastructure.

Use independent intelligence to continuously monitor and optimize their supply paths.

Design commercial models and partnerships that reward clarity, not opacity.

Certified CTV supply is not a marketing slogan. It is the blueprint for a more sustainable, efficient, and trusted streaming ecosystem where high-quality publishers and thoughtful supply side platforms thrive, and everyone can finally see how the money flows from viewer to screen to ledger.