QTT Adds To Patents Connecting Digital, Linear TV Ad Marketplaces

QTT, an ad tech video platform that helps make linear TV advertising behave digitally, has earned its third patent (U.S. Patent No. 11,057,134 for “Integrating Digital Advertising with Cable TV Network and Broadcast Advertising”) in its path to bridging the gap between linear TV and digital advertising.

“QTT is a win-win for advertisers and linear TV companies alike,” said John Piccone, president of QTT. “Local and national television inventory suppliers own the lion’s share of premium, fraud-free video advertising inventory. But digital-only advertisers have not been able to access this premium inventory through the demand-side platforms where they currently purchase all other digital media. There are many more digital advertisers than TV advertisers and this development allows all of those digital advertisers to access TV inventory and to avail themselves of brand-safe options that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their budgets.”

QTT, a division of Viamedia, the largest independent local ad management company, is a cloud-based solution that converts a single DSP/SSP digital ad call into a linear TV advertising placement. Integrated with leading SSPs and DSPs, QTT facilitates private marketplace deals with the local broadcasters and broadcast and cable networks that have licensed QTT.

Randy Lykes, CTO of QTT parent Viamedia and who is named on the patent, said: “This completes the last mile that has been missing from previous efforts to connect the largest pool of premium video advertising inventory to DSPs and SSPs — while giving inventory owners control of the process. QTT solves this by making advertising standards interoperable.”

The new patent is part of QTT’s product development and intellectual property strategy and complements two patents issued to QTT within the past year.

In August 2020, QTT received U.S. Patent No. 10,757,462 for “Integrating Digital Advertising Ecosystems Into Linear TV,” which enabled MVPDs to connect to digital-first advertisers via demand-side and supply-side ad platforms (DSPs and SSPs). In May 2021, QTT received its second patent, No. 11,012,758, for “Cross-Channel Digital and IoT Advertising Triggered by Cable TV Cue Message” — ensuring that MVPDs are central to advertising on any connected device.

This newly awarded patent, QTT said, “enables connection to broadcast and cable programmers and their ad inventory, immediately increasing digital-first advertisers’ access to local linear TV inventory from 2 minutes per hour, as enabled by last year’s patent, to 15 minutes per hour nationally. In combination, the three patents support QTT’s product roadmap for the future.”

“We always knew that advertisers and their agencies would want the option to buy both national and local linear inventory through their DSPs,” Piccone added. “Working with leading SSP and DSP partners, we have now made this a reality both as a product that is currently available as well as part of QTT‘s intellectual property strategy.”