CTV Data Ownership: Ad Power Shifts by 2026

We all keep hearing that Connected TV (CTV) data is the new oil, the key to understanding viewer behavior and seeing if our campaigns actually work. This data stream, which details what people watch and how they interact with ads across countless streaming devices, is supposed to let us do precision targeting and create personalized ads. But the big question is still open: who actually owns the refinery? Who controls access to this data, and what does that mean for who holds the power in advertising?

The Fragmented Field of CTV Data Ownership

Everyone got excited about CTV because it was supposed to give us the best of both worlds: the broad reach of old-school linear TV combined with the sharp, granular targeting we’re used to in digital. Actually getting there, however, is a mess. The whole field is so fragmented that figuring out who owns what data is nearly impossible. Digital advertising is pretty consolidated, but CTV is a free-for-all with smart TV makers, streaming device companies, app developers, content owners, and ad tech platforms all holding a different piece of the data puzzle.

Take smart TV manufacturers like Samsung (with its Smart Hub) and LG (with webOS). They collect huge amounts of ACR (Automatic Content Recognition) data, which tells them everything you’re watching, from cable to streaming apps to video games. They then use that data to power their own ad businesses, like Samsung Ads, effectively building a walled garden. It’s the same story with streaming device makers like Roku and Amazon Fire TV, they pull together data from every interaction a user has on their OS and within the apps on their platform, which gives them a fantastic view into what people like and watch.

And don’t forget the streaming apps themselves, from giants like Netflix and Disney+ down to the tiny niche ones. Every single app is collecting its own first-party data on what subscribers do, what they watch, and how they engage. Some of this gets passed to advertisers programmatically, but it’s usually anonymized and aggregated, and getting your hands on the raw, user-level data is next to impossible. So what do advertisers end up with? An incomplete picture, stitched together from a dozen different sources, which makes real cross-platform attribution a complete nightmare.

Advertisers’ Quest for Unified Insights

For any advertiser, this data ownership mess is a huge roadblock to getting a complete view of a campaign’s performance. It’s like trying to figure out how much oil is in a field when every well is owned by someone different, they all use their own measurement units, and they’ll only sell you a tiny, processed fraction of what they pump. This is the reality for brands right now. They’re pouring money into CTV ads but can’t connect the dots between someone seeing an ad on one platform and then buying something on another, or even just across different apps on the same TV.

Because there’s no unified system, brands are stuck using a patchwork of measurement tools, which just leads to conflicting reports and makes it impossible to accurately calculate return on ad spend (ROAS). It’s no surprise that a late 2025 report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) showed that over 60% of advertisers still see cross-platform measurement and attribution as their single biggest challenge in CTV. They just want to answer a simple question: did the user who saw my ad on Hulu also see it on Peacock, and did any of that actually lead to them buying something on my website? Without standard IDs and clear data-sharing rules, that’s still just a pipe dream.

So, the push for more transparency and for systems that can actually talk to each other is getting louder. Brands are tired of just getting high-level aggregated reports. They are demanding access to the granular, actionable data underneath it all. The goal is to plug CTV insights directly into their own CRM systems and other first-party data, letting them build out real audience profiles and make personalization actually work. Everyone wants to connect the full customer journey, from the first ad they see to the final purchase, and that’s what’s fueling the demand for solutions that can finally bridge these data gaps.

The Power of Publishers and Platforms

In this messy field, it’s the publishers and platform owners who hold most of the cards. They’re the gatekeepers to all that valuable first-party data, and how they decide to share, sell, and protect it directly affects how well CTV advertising works for any brand. You see this power play out in a few key ways:

• Walled Gardens: Many big streaming services and TV manufacturers run their own ad businesses, offering advertisers a one-stop shop using their own data. While convenient, these walled gardens stop an advertiser from consolidating data across different platforms or using their preferred third-party measurement tools. For instance, a brand running a campaign directly with Roku Advertising will get great performance data inside Roku’s world but will have a hell of a time trying to compare that performance directly against a campaign running somewhere else.
• Data Clean Rooms: One solution that’s getting a lot of attention is the data clean room. These are secure environments where two parties (like an advertiser and a publisher) can bring their data together for analysis without ever sharing raw, personally identifiable information. Media companies like NBCUniversal have gone all-in on clean rooms to give advertisers better insights while keeping control of their data. They sound great, but getting them adopted everywhere will take serious investment and a lot of work on standardization before they can really scale.
• Proprietary Identifiers: With third-party cookies on the web going away, everyone’s scrambling to find other identifiers for CTV. A lot of platforms are just creating their own proprietary IDs to track users and target ads. These IDs can work great inside one platform, but the lack of a universal, privacy-safe identifier that works across the entire field just creates friction for advertisers trying to get consistent reach and measurement. The IAB Tech Lab’s Project Rearc initiative is trying to create common, privacy-friendly identifiers, which is a good step, but getting everyone to adopt it is going to be a multi-year slog.

The power balance is tricky. Publishers want to squeeze every drop of value from their data to stay ahead, while advertisers just need transparent, unified data so they can optimize their spend. All the back-and-forth negotiations and new tech being built around data sharing and measurement standards are what will in the end define how this all shakes out.

Regulatory Scrutiny and the Privacy Imperative

You can’t talk about who owns CTV data without also talking about regulators looking over everyone’s shoulder and the absolute need to protect consumer privacy. The more sophisticated CTV advertising gets, the more the public wakes up and gets worried about how their viewing habits are being tracked and used. And you can bet regulators in the United States and Europe are paying attention.

In the US, the FTC has been making it clear they’re interested in the data practices of streaming companies. Recent FTC actions and statements show they’re zeroing in on deceptive data collection, especially around kids’ privacy and how transparent companies are about sharing data with third parties. Any company in the CTV world has to make sure its data collection and sharing policies are spelled out clearly for consumers and follow the new privacy laws, like the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and other state laws that went into effect in 2026.

The EU’s GDPR still sets a very high bar for data privacy, affecting any CTV platform or advertiser with users in the EU. This makes things like explicit consent, clear data processing agreements, and strong security legal requirements, not just ‘best practices’. Since streaming is global, trying to comply with all these different and sometimes conflicting privacy laws is a constant, complicated headache. If you mess up, you’re looking at huge fines and a trashed reputation, which makes privacy-by-design a non-negotiable part of any CTV data strategy.

All these regulations just add another layer of complexity to the data ownership question. A platform might technically “own” the data, but what they can actually do with it is severely limited by consumer consent and a web of legal rules. This is forcing every player in the game to get serious about handling data ethically, being transparent, and locking down their security, which completely changes how data gets collected and used for ads.

The Road Ahead: Collaboration and Standardization

If we’re ever going to get the full value out of CTV data, it’s going to require much more collaboration and standardization across the industry. No single company can fix this fragmentation mess by itself. It’s going to take everyone working together. We are starting to see some movement in the right direction:

• Cross-Industry Initiatives: Groups like the IAB are pushing hard to develop universal tech standards for CTV measurement. Their work on Project Rearc is all about creating privacy-safe identifiers and frameworks that can work across different platforms. It’s a slow process, but these efforts are essential for building a system where everything can talk to each other.
• Consolidated Measurement Solutions: Ad tech companies are building smarter measurement platforms that can pull in data from all the different CTV sources, giving advertisers a more unified dashboard. They often use some pretty advanced analytics and machine learning to try and make sense of all the conflicting data and offer better attribution models.
• First-Party Data Emphasis: Brands are finally getting serious about building out their own first-party data strategies. By collecting more information directly from customers (with their permission, of course), they can add a lot of context to the data they get from CTV platforms and get a much clearer picture of their audience. This also makes them less dependent on third-party IDs, which are on their way out anyway.
• Strategic Partnerships: Advertisers are getting cozier with the big CTV publishers and TV manufacturers. These direct relationships can lead to custom data-sharing deals, access to clean rooms, and working together on better measurement. It’s really about building trust and finding a win-win.

In the end, there won’t be one “refinery” for CTV data owned by a single company. It’s going to be a distributed network of secure systems that can talk to each other, all governed by industry standards and strict privacy laws. The power will shift to whoever can pull together, analyze, and use data correctly (and legally), showing real value to advertisers and consumers. The brands that get ahead of this by collaborating, making privacy a priority, and building a strong first-party data foundation are the ones that are going to win.

The future of CTV advertising depends entirely on solving this data ownership mess. Advertisers need to get in the ring with platforms and industry groups, pushing them for more transparency and standard measurement. Building your own first-party data strategy and committing to privacy-first solutions is the only way to actually use CTV data effectively in the years ahead.