Innovid Offers Reliable Measurement for Live Content
As live content continues its migration to streaming, marketers are demanding the same trust and precision they expect from traditional broadcast. Innovid, the independent software platform specializing in ad creation, delivery, measurement, and optimization, is stepping up to meet that challenge.
The company recently unveiled its Live Content Certification Program, an initiative designed to ensure seamless, third-party ad serving and reliable measurement of live streaming, particularly live sports. Major media companies including Disney, FOX, NBCUniversal, and Paramount are the first to complete certification, signaling their readiness to deliver MRC-accredited impression measurement across live feeds.
StreetFight spoke with Christopher Murphy, SVP, Strategy and Business Development at Innovid, about how this certification helps publishers, agencies, and brands navigate the complexity of live streaming.
What does “certification” under the new Live Content Certification Program entail?
The program is a tailored validation process designed for live streaming. It means a publisher has gone through a hands-on series of tests that isolate live inventory from VOD and confirm that ads will behave reliably under real-world conditions. For example, traffic spikes and concurrency that come with streaming major sporting events. We work with the publisher to validate the technical setup, confirm that creative and tag specifications are implemented correctly, and ensure that measurement is accurate and independently verified.
Once a publisher completes the process, advertisers can be confident that their live campaigns will be delivered and measured with the same trust, transparency, and consistency they expect, but purpose-built for the very unique pressures of live events.
What must a publisher do to become certified?
Becoming certified means working closely with Innovid to validate that everything in a publisher’s live environment is set up to deliver and measure ads accurately. We start by aligning on the exact creative and tag specifications required for that publisher’s live streams and making sure they are implemented correctly. From there, we run “stress tests” that simulate real live conditions. Things that make live events so challenging. Throughout the process, we review the resulting data to confirm impressions are being counted correctly, and that measurement is consistent and accurate.
For local or regional advertisers, do you expect this to significantly lower the barrier to buy live-streamed inventory?[
I’d actually broaden the lens a bit. This certification benefits advertisers of all sizes. The core purpose isn’t to change who can/can’t buy live-streamed inventory; it’s to ensure that once a campaign is running, it’s delivered reliably and measured accurately in a live environment.
Any barriers to buying live content tend to be more commercial vs. technical. We’re already seeing smaller advertisers access more live inventory through programmatic as publishers manage their yield more effectively, and that trend will continue regardless of certification. Certification gives everyone a stronger sense of trust. It removes uncertainty around whether the ads will behave as expected and whether the reporting reflects what truly happened in the live stream.
Regarding measurement, how does this certification change what kind of data and transparency advertisers receive compared to the pre-existing ad serving/ measurement setup from Innovid?
The Live Content Certification Program doesn’t change the data advertisers receive or the level of transparency available to them. Those elements are driven by agreements between advertisers and publishers. What certification does is ensure that the existing data and measurement flows work consistently in live environments, which historically can be prone to variability.
Does Innovid’s certification accommodate more granular geographic targeting or regional buyer needs, or is this mostly about large-scale national ad ops?
The Live Content Certification Program is about ensuring quality, and that applies whether the campaign is national or localized. Innovid’s platform already supports granular creative targeting and regional strategies, so those capabilities don’t change.
As more live content migrates to streaming away from linear TV, do you see certification becoming a kind of industry standard for buyers and sellers?
Yes. Buyers are asking tougher questions about reliability and verification. They want to know that their ads will run when they’re supposed to, and that there’s independent oversight behind the data. Certification gives a clear, shared standard for what “good” looks like in a live environment.
What is Innovid’s vision for how this could evolve in the next two years?
The biggest next step is enabling more advanced creative in live environments, like interactive formats, dynamic messaging, and richer experiences that go beyond standard video. Once delivery and measurement are validated, the natural evolution is unlocking more creative possibilities in live moments, and that’s where we see the program heading next.
For advertisers used to on-demand (VOD) or linear TV campaigns, what are the main risks or challenges remaining, even with certification, when investing in live-streamed content? (data fragmentation, viewability, attribution, local relevancy)
Live Content Certification removes much of the uncertainty around delivery and measurement, but it doesn’t solve every challenge that streaming poses. Advertisers still have to navigate a fragmented landscape (different publishers, identity signals, reporting views, etc.), which makes planning more complex than in a linear environment. And because live streaming is still evolving, things like ensuring local relevance or stitching together a consistent, cross-platform view can require more coordination. That said, none of these challenges should be a reason to hold back.
