Moloco launches performance CTV ads for app marketers

Moloco has launched Moloco Ads for Performance CTV for app marketers, extending its advertising business into connected television.

The product targets a fast-growing part of the advertising market that has often been geared more towards brand campaigns than direct response. App marketers have struggled to get the same level of measurement and optimisation on connected TV that they receive on mobile platforms.

Global connected TV advertising spend stands at about USD $40 billion to USD $45 billion, according to eMarketer figures cited by Moloco. Yet many buying tools in the segment still rely on demographic targeting and measure performance only after a campaign has run, rather than adjusting delivery in real time against app installs or other outcomes.

The new product uses the same artificial intelligence system behind Moloco's mobile advertising business. Each impression is optimised in real time against specific marketing outcomes, while attribution runs through the advertiser's chosen mobile measurement partner.

Moloco is pitching the service to app marketers seeking downloads and user engagement through television screens. It offers access to household connected TV inventory, publisher-level reporting and an open platform model that does not prioritise Moloco's own inventory or audience data.

Sunil Rayan, Chief Business Officer & General Manager, Moloco Ads, said connected TV remains underused by app marketers despite the size of the audience.

"Connected TV represents one of the biggest untapped opportunities for app marketers today," said Sunil Rayan, Chief Business Officer & General Manager, Moloco Ads. "With Performance CTV, we're bringing the measurability and precision that app marketers expect from mobile to the world of television, giving them a genuinely new way to reach their audiences and drive results where attention has never been more valuable."

Early results

Early campaign data showed up to 1.5 times higher return on investment on connected TV than on mobile when advertisers ran campaigns across both channels. About two-thirds of users who installed an app after seeing a Performance CTV advert did so within six hours.

One early user was Fanatics Betting and Gaming, which used the product as part of a campaign for Fanatics Sportsbook during the college basketball season. Connected TV formed a significant part of that campaign's marketing mix.

"Moloco Ads for Performance CTV was a key component of our college basketball strategy for Fanatics Sportsbook this March," said Blair Hilton, Director of Performance Marketing at Fanatics Betting and Gaming. "Moloco played a central role in delivering strong campaign results - performance exceeded expectations and enabled us to reach a broader audience efficiently."

Market shift

The launch reflects a broader shift in digital advertising as marketers try to apply app-based performance techniques to channels beyond smartphones. Connected TV has attracted growing interest because of its scale and viewing time, but advertisers have often faced a trade-off between television reach and the kind of direct measurement available in mobile ad buying.

Moloco's argument is that app marketers want television inventory to function more like a measurable acquisition channel. In practice, that means bidding and optimisation based on outcomes, integrated attribution, and reporting detailed enough to show where campaigns are working.

Moloco says its wider technology reaches two billion consumers across more than two million mobile apps. Founded in 2013, the company operates in more than 200 countries and territories, with offices in the US, the UK, Germany, Korea, China, India, Japan and Singapore.

The new connected TV product also points to closer ties between mobile advertising, retail media and streaming television. As marketers spread budgets across those channels, vendors are trying to offer tools that measure campaigns against the same outcomes rather than manage them in separate systems.

For Moloco, the launch extends its mobile advertising model into a larger-screen environment while keeping app installs and engagement at the centre of the pitch. The service is intended to give advertisers transparency, control and accountability in connected TV buying.

Its central claim is that television can now be used as a direct response medium for app marketers rather than only as a branding channel, with attribution linked back to the marketer's own measurement partner.