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Connected TV (CTV)

Connected TV (CTV) is a television that streams over the internet, as a smart TV or through a game console or streaming device, and can show ads in apps like YouTube.

How it works

Google Ads added TV screens as a device type of its own in 2018, next to computers, mobile phones and tablets. The API describes it as smart TVs and game consoles. YouTube ads from video campaigns, Demand Gen and Performance Max can reach TV screens. Viewers hold a remote, not a mouse. Google’s answer is Shoppable CTV: products on the screen with a QR code or a “send to phone” option.

For a store, CTV brings reach rather than orders: a viewer may search or buy later on a phone or a computer. To measure the effect, run a test. Show ads on TV screens in some regions or periods and not in others, then compare total sales and brand searches, as for the halo effect. Device settings can opt a campaign out of TV screens (in the API, a device bid modifier of 0). For choosing a YouTube campaign, see YouTube ads for an online store.

Where you see it

  • Google Ads: campaign reports segmented by device show TV screens as a separate row. In the Google Ads API, the value is CONNECTED_TV.

Not to be confused with

  • Awareness campaigns — campaign types built for reach: Video, Display, Demand Gen. CTV is a device, so a Performance Max campaign judged on sales can also show ads on TV screens.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “TV screens bring no clicks, so the money there is wasted.” Right: a TV viewer has a remote, not a mouse, so any effect shows up later on other devices. Measuring it takes a test.
  • Wrong: “Google says TV screens add 7% more conversions, so they will for us.” Right: that figure is the average from Google’s internal experiment on Demand Gen campaigns (Google data, global, 2025). Your store needs its own test.

Sources