The news: IPG Mediabrands, Acxiom, and IRIS.TV have partnered to launch Acxiom Contextual CTV powered by IRIS_ID, a privacy-safe targeting tool that matches ads with the content viewers are watching—by genre, subject, or tone—without relying on personal identifiers.

The product builds on IRIS.TV’s content ID system, already present in 17% to 40% of US bidstream inventory. Publishers working with IRIS.TV gain access to 15+ computer vision AI models, with Acxiom’s solution adding contextual precision across both direct and programmatic CTV buys.

Why it matters: Publisher-declared metadata—the foundation of historical contextual CTV—was often “inconsistent and unreliable,” Acxiom VP Simon Poplyansky contends. But the launch comes as contextual and AI-driven targeting rise in importance, with 49% of marketers ranking contextual targeting as their top priority in the cookieless era. Twenty-nine percent of US advertisers already rely on contextual data in privacy-regulated regions, underscoring the need for privacy-safe targeting frameworks.

Early pilots show measurable gains. Molly Schultz, EVP at IPG Mediabrands, said entertainment clients achieved higher video completion rates. Tests show awareness, recall, and favorability metrics can outperform typical CTV campaigns by multiples. And internal IRIS.TV data demonstrates that passing IRIS_ID in bid requests can yield 25% higher CPMs for publishers, with Univision already leveraging IRIS_ID to better reach Hispanic audiences.

Field Garthwaite, CEO of IRIS.TV, emphasized that keeping IRIS_ID distinct from Acxiom’s identity graph allows advertisers to reach households without privacy risks. The design supports laws like the VPPA while ensuring future-proof compliance.