AdGood’s Impact on Nonprofit CTV Advertising
Turning Wasted Ad Inventory into Purpose-Driven Messaging
Streaming platforms have become the new frontier for advertisers, but when connected TV (CTV) services can’t sell every ad slot, viewers are left staring at an eerie black screen or cryptic “We’ll be right back” bumper. Not only is that downtime a lost opportunity for brands, it also irritates audiences and undermines platform credibility. AdGood, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2024, is tackling this inefficiency by repurposing unsold CTV inventory into affordable ad placements for charitable organizations.
AdGood buys or receives donated ad space from partners such as LG Ad Solutions, Plex, and, most recently, streaming audio giant Stingray. By leveraging dynamic ad insertion (DAI) and server-side ad insertion (SSAI) technologies, AdGood can seamlessly stitch nonprofit messages into live streams and on-demand content, turning gaps into impact.
Partnerships and Pricing Dynamics in the CTV Ecosystem
CTV ad costs vary widely based on targeting, device type, geography, and supply-demand balance. While premier inventory on major platforms can command $35–$65 CPM, unsold or donated slots often go unused. AdGood negotiates bulk purchases and donation agreements to secure this inventory at deeply discounted rates—sometimes as low as $5–$6 CPM. Even after operational fees, nonprofits typically pay $7 CPM, compared to industry averages of $12–$15 for standard CTV buys.
“Our model relies on a programmatic open auction on the supply-side platform (SSP) to snag remnant inventory,” explains Kris Johns, AdGood’s CEO. “We integrate with demand-side platforms (DSPs) like The Trade Desk and Google DV360 to access a broad pool of unsold impressions, then reallocate them to our nonprofit clients.” The result: pet rescue campaigns, literacy drives, and food bank appeals running during primetime streaming—often for a fraction of the usual cost.
AdGood’s Generative AI-Powered Campaign Builder
To lower barriers further, AdGood offers a self-serve generative AI ad manager in partnership with Streamr.AI. Nonprofits can input a brief via chat prompt—target audience, key message, desired tone—and the system produces a fully editable 30-second video spot. The tool auto-selects targeting parameters, encodes the creative in H.264 or HEVC to meet platform specs, and queues it for a 24-hour human quality review.
“For a $250 flat fee plus a $7 CPM rate, a neighborhood sports league can reach 50,000 households and transform local engagement,” says Johns. “It’s ad tech democratisation for social good.”
Technical Architecture and Programmatic Supply Chain
AdGood’s platform leverages a microservices architecture deployed on AWS. Core components include:
- Inventory Ingestion Service: Interfaces with SSPs via OpenRTB to bid on remnant ad calls in real time (sub-50ms latency).
- Creative Management API: Hosts video assets, transcodes them into multiple bitrates and resolutions for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR).
- Campaign Orchestration Engine: Uses rule-based logic and machine learning models to optimize pacing, frequency capping, and dayparting across platforms.
- Reporting & Analytics Module: Collects impression-level logs, viewability metrics (VAST 4.1, OM SDK), and audience insights via server-side event tracking.
By using containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure as code (Terraform), AdGood ensures scalability and rapid onboarding when new inventory partners come on board.
Measuring Impact: Data Analytics and ROI for Nonprofits
Traditional CTV buys suffer from limited conversion tracking. AdGood is developing first-party tagging and pixel alternatives—currently in beta—to attribute website visits and form submissions back to specific CTV campaigns. They’ve also partnered with a third-party measurement firm certified by the Media Rating Council (MRC) to validate viewership and completion rates.
Early results are promising: local animal shelters report a 30% uplift in adoption inquiries after running four-week CTV campaigns. Educational nonprofits tracking micro-donations have seen return on ad spend (ROAS) as high as 200%—a level of transparency previously unattainable in the CTV space.
Challenges and Future Roadmap
- Identity and Addressability: With diminishing third-party cookies and emerging universal IDs (UID2, LiveRamp), AdGood is evaluating integration paths to maintain targeting precision while respecting privacy regulations like CCPA and GDPR.
- Expanded Analytics: The team aims to roll out server-side tracking and data clean rooms to offer granular insights without compromising user data.
- Global Expansion: Currently US-focused, AdGood is in talks with European and APAC streaming platforms to secure donated inventory and onboard regional nonprofits.
“Our vision is to allocate a guaranteed inventory block—say 100,000 impressions per month—for every qualified nonprofit,” Johns concludes. “By 2026, we hope to flip the script on remnant ads worldwide.”
Conclusion
Blank ad slots may once have signified a streaming glitch or unwelcome interruption. Today, they represent an untapped avenue for social impact, courtesy of AdGood’s blend of programmatic acumen, generative AI, and nonprofit mission. As CTV viewership surges past 200 million US households, the potential to marry ad revenue with charitable outcomes has never been greater.