Q&A: The rise of biddable inventory and what it means for advertisers

As the advertising landscape continues its streaming evolution, the rise of biddable inventory is changing how brands approach media investment–particularly in sports.

Mark Zamuner, president of Juice Media, has seen this shift firsthand, bringing decades of experience in growth strategy, media buying and analytics to campaigns for major brands. After founding Juice Media in 2020 and leading its acquisition by Altice USA in 2022, Zamuner has been focused on advancing audience targeting, attribution, and optimization through proprietary ad tech.

In this Executive Q&A, Zamuner explores the growing accessibility of live sports advertising, the role of advanced analytics and how mid-sized and large advertisers can compete in an increasingly dynamic marketplace. He also shares his predictions for connected TV (CTV) advertising and discusses how technology is driving marketing democratization in 2025.

What is driving the shift toward biddable sports inventory, and why is it significant for advertisers?

With the culmination of digital transformation in the video ecosystem, more inventory is available to be transacted in a biddable fashion. The rise of streaming (as distribution digitizes) and increased viewership across devices have opened up data integrations that allow for refined targeting and addressability. The increased viewing time and proliferation of sporting content also helps fuel the ecosystem.

As a result, brands with geo-constrained products or services can now target and bid on audiences in relevant, premium content (e.g., sports).

How do you see this shift reshaping the broader advertising landscape in 2025?

In general terms, this shift should enable mid-market and specialist companies to grow by reaching relevant, targeted audiences in content that was previously inaccessible. This is a huge win for marketing democratization.

What are advertisers’ biggest challenges as live sports inventory becomes more accessible?

Some of the biggest challenges include gaining a clear understanding of the entry points into live sports content. This includes managing frequency across different deal structures and assessing the potential pricing pressure that may occur as demand for the same content becomes atomized.

What role do you see technology and analytics playing?

While data access and feedback loops may be faster and easier to compute, test design and structure are necessary to validate learnings and enable technology and analytics.

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What are your predictions for the evolution of CTV advertising beyond the rise of biddable sports inventory?

First, I fundamentally believe the ability to narrow-cast advertising helps the mid- and SME market. Companies’ ability to find and reach their target audiences has never been better. I’d expect to see a diversification of channel investments away from social walled gardens into CTV as a follow-on to the above. Second, advertising experiences are going to vary wildly as generative AI is used for creative production and publishers open up more fulsome ad experiences.

How can advanced analytics improve targeting accuracy in sports streaming?

For larger advertisers, having an identity spine connected to your customer data platform should enable you to understand if you have opportunities to “win back” lapsed customers with specific offers that can be served to them exclusively at a time when they are engaged with premium content. In essence, this leverages the tech stack to enable a broader application of the channel (not simply looking at ‘acquisition’ but playing out the totality of business economics).

What steps can be taken to balance competition between mid-sized and large advertisers?

Given that most small to medium-sized enterprises are geo-constrained, and most platforms have an objective to maximize their own yield, it’s a tricky balance in an open market. Ostensibly, if large-scale advertisers are finding great effectiveness in narrowing their audience target sizes, this should open up pockets of inventory for small to medium-sized enterprises to exist within on an economically viable basis. However, it is uncertain that this will happen.

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What key metrics should brands focus on in a crowded marketplace?

Key metrics to focus on include the effect of the investment, the size of the addressable audience, alternative impactful methods to reach the audience, and a structure to understand the drivers of reach and frequency.

Any other thoughts on the marketplace this year?

The marketplace this year is expected to be frothy, with a lot of consolidation. NBCU’s Universal Ads was a clear signal of intent – the greater the inventory pie, the more opportunity for all advertisers. The easier it is for advertisers to understand how their campaigns play out across channels and publishers, the more informed they are about the effectiveness of those dollars, and the more investment will be made.