HbbTV-TA

Addressable advertising with HbbTV: moving from experiments to scale

This article is part of a series based on presentations from the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2025, bringing together insights from across the industry on the future of broadcast services and connected television. Covering topics from broadband-only delivery and addressable advertising to interoperability and evolving standards, the series captures key discussions and expert perspectives shaping the next phase of HbbTV and the wider TV ecosystem.

One of the most commercially focused discussions at the HbbTV Symposium 2025 examined the current state and future potential of addressable advertising. Moderated by journalist Jörn Krieger, the roundtable brought together Nicole Agudo Berbel, Managing Director of Seven.One Media and Chief Distribution Officer of Seven.One Entertainment Group; Atınç Öğüt, Deputy General Manager, Consumer Electronics Product Management at Vestel; Erdem Tolon, Deputy General Manager of Kantar Media Turkey; Faruk Emre Kocuk, Sales Director at Theadx; and Tuna Gürel, Chief Revenue Officer at TVekstra. Together they explored how HbbTV-based advertising is evolving and what is needed to unlock its full potential.

While the technical foundations for addressable advertising have existed for many years, the discussion highlighted a market that is now moving from experimentation towards greater scale and maturity.

Nicole Agudo Berbel described how Seven.One Media has steadily expanded its addressable advertising portfolio in Germany. What began with familiar formats such as switch-in advertising and overlay banners has evolved into a broader strategy encompassing linear television, streaming and connected TV inventory. The company now bundles advertising opportunities across all large-screen environments, creating what it describes as a unified “big screen” proposition for advertisers.

This approach reflects a broader trend across the industry. Advertisers increasingly want to buy audiences rather than platforms, and they expect television inventory to be available through the same data-driven workflows used elsewhere in digital advertising.

She also highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in advertising. Seven.One Media has begun deploying AI-generated advertising creatives and virtual product placements, demonstrating how new technologies can create additional value from existing content and advertising opportunities.

From the device manufacturer perspective, Atınç Öğüt explained how Vestel views addressable advertising as an increasingly important part of the connected TV ecosystem. As one of Europe’s largest television manufacturers, Vestel supports HbbTV across a wide range of markets and sees initiatives such as HbbTV-TA and SAT.tv Connect as important steps towards creating sustainable revenue models beyond device sales.

For manufacturers, the long-term goal is to develop recurring revenue streams through connected services and advertising, making monetisation an increasingly important consideration in product strategy.

The discussion repeatedly returned to one critical ingredient: data.

Erdem Tolon explained how audience measurement is evolving as broadcasters and advertisers seek richer insights into viewer behaviour. Traditional panel-based measurement remains essential, but HbbTV data offers the opportunity to enhance audience measurement through larger-scale census-style data sets.

Rather than replacing panels, Tolon argued that the future lies in hybrid measurement systems that combine panel data with return-path data from connected devices. This approach can improve reach measurement, provide greater granularity and help address challenges such as measuring smaller thematic channels that may be underrepresented in traditional panels.

Beyond reach, HbbTV data also creates opportunities to measure audience engagement and campaign effectiveness. Tolon outlined how connected TV can help advertisers understand not only whether viewers were exposed to an advertisement, but also whether the campaign influenced awareness, consideration and purchase intent.

The importance of measurement and transparency was echoed by other panellists. Trust remains fundamental to advertising markets, and independent verification of audience data continues to play a critical role in attracting advertising investment.

Faruk Emre Kocuk highlighted the progress being made in the Turkish market, where awareness of HbbTV advertising has grown rapidly in recent years. Advertising investment in connected TV has increased significantly, although he acknowledged that substantial education is still required among agencies and advertisers to fully communicate the benefits of addressable television advertising.

Tuna Gürel expanded on this point, noting that one of the biggest challenges remains competition for advertising budgets. Connected TV must compete not only with traditional television advertising but also with digital giants such as YouTube and other online platforms.

To succeed, HbbTV advertising needs to demonstrate its unique advantages. These include premium television environments, large-screen viewing, advanced targeting capabilities and increasingly sophisticated measurement tools. At the same time, the industry must make buying and planning addressable television campaigns as straightforward as other digital media channels.

Several participants highlighted the importance of standardisation in achieving this goal. The HbbTV Targeted Advertising specification (HbbTV-TA) and initiatives such as the Addressable TV Initiative (ATVI) are helping to create consistent approaches across markets, devices and broadcasters. This reduces complexity for advertisers and supports greater scalability.

The discussion concluded with a clear message. The industry has already proven that addressable advertising works. The next challenge is scale.

Achieving that scale will require continued collaboration between broadcasters, manufacturers, technology providers, measurement companies and advertisers. It will also require common standards, trusted measurement and simpler buying processes.

The technology is largely in place. The focus now is on making addressable advertising a mainstream component of television advertising markets rather than a specialist add-on. For HbbTV, that transition represents one of the most significant commercial opportunities in its history.

Watch the presentation and explore further

You can watch the full roundtable from the HbbTV Symposium 2025 here: Watch the Video

Next in the series

Our coverage of the HbbTV Symposium 2025 continues with a collection of quick-fire presentations from industry experts. From combating misinformation and improving accessibility to advancing interoperability and tracking global HbbTV adoption, these short presentations offer a glimpse into some of the most innovative developments across the connected TV landscape.