European CTV ad views grow by a quarter

Digital advertising views – and views on connected TV in particular – saw strong growth in Europe in the second half of 2023, according to the latest market report by ad tech outfit FreeWheel.

According to the FreeWheel Video Marketplace Report, ad views across digital premium video in Europe and the US overall saw an 8% total increase during the second half of 2023, with a 17% growth in Europe compared with 6% in the US.

CTV ad views increased as a proportion in H2 2023 in both regions and especially so among European audiences, with growth of 24% versus the same period in 2022 while the US experienced a rise of 10%.

According to FreeWheel, differences in consumption remain between the two markets. The vast majority of general ad views (82%) happen on larger screens for US audiences, with CTV making up 84% of American live ad views.

Europe on the other hand saw an even split between large (53%) and small screens (47%).

Regional variations in live ad views also relate to progress in programmatic trading and the use of FAST channels, with the US seeing 38% of live ad views transacted programmatically and FAST channels accounting for 25% of distribution, compared to 22% and 7.5% in Europe respectively, according to FreeWheel. Overall, programmatic ad views grew 50% year-on-year in Europe.

The current edition of the Video Marketplace Report covers video advertising trends for the second half of 2023 in European countries Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK, and the US.