This article is a WTF explainer, in which we break down media and marketing’s most confusing terms. More from the series →
Streaming advertisers got an early Christmas gift this year when IAB Tech Lab released OpenRTB 2.6. The updated protocol for programmatic advertising included support for “pod bidding.”
Pod bidding allows advertisers to bid on specific ad slots within a multi-ad break, or pod — an option that has been available to traditional TV advertisers for, well, ever. OpenRTB 2.6 also added support for dynamic pods, which allow streaming services to recalculate the number of ads in a pod on the fly in order to accommodate more advertisers without extending the length of an ad break.
For a fuller breakdown of pod bidding, check out the video below.
More in Future of TV
YouTube vs. TikTok vs. Instagram: What Gen Z really watches in 2025
At VidCon 2025, more than a dozen Gen Z attendees weighed in on the video apps they are most and least likely to watch.
Future of TV Briefing: YouTube gives a peek at how its recommendation algorithms work
This week’s Future of TV Briefing recaps a VidCon session during which YouTube executives and creators unpacked the video platform’s recommendation engine.
How TikTok’s ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ landed on Hulu, with Select Management Group’s Danielle Pistotnik
The talent manager and executive producer of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” joined the Digiday Podcast to break down the process of the reality show finding a home on Hulu.