Learn with Cognition

Streaming TV’s Hidden Impact on Search Traffic & Conversions

Ava Hinds

Streaming TV Specialist

TL;DR

Streaming TV drives 26% of search traffic
Streaming TV website visitors are 5X more likely to convert
Streaming TV accounted for 6% of all web leads

Streaming TV (STV) is often cast as a top-of-funnel awareness tactic in automotive advertising, but what if streaming ads are quietly driving a big part of the entire customer journey? We’ve long suspected STV does more than spark interest—it drives intent and can capture demand.

To prove it, we studied 9 randomly selected dealerships over a 3-month window, using our [headless analytics] pixel in the iCAN Measurement Studio.

What we found? Proof positive that connect Streaming TV ad exposures to website visitation within a 24-hour view-thru window. We call this a ‘view-thru’.

What’s a View-thru?

Here’s the big reveal: 25-30% of traffic your analytics tags as “direct” or “search” actually started with a Streaming TV ad. And looking across the 9 dealerships, 26% of visits on average were influenced by streaming—traffic that feeds paid search, the backbone of automotive demand capture.

But it’s not just about traffic—conversions tell the real story about the quality of the traffic and thus, the quality of the ad itself and the placement it ran in. Website visitors who saw a streaming ad and then visited the dealer website were 5x more likely to take action – i.e. submitting a lead form or calling a dealership, compared to those who weren’t.

In one case, Streaming TV-driven conversions outpaced all other channels as the primary traffic driver, yet last-click analytics missed it entirely.

We also found 6% of lead submissions tied directly to a Streaming TV exposure—conversions that would’ve been credited elsewhere without [headless analytics].

The Takeaway

Streaming TV is foundational to the automotive buyer’s journey, influencing search behavior and conversions in ways traditional analytics can’t see. Without this clarity, advertisers risk underfunding a powerhouse channel or misallocating spend altogether in pursuit of analytics vs meaningful business outcomes.

Key Points

It’s a Hidden Traffic Driver: Streaming TV ads quietly influenced 26% of website traffic, which standard analytics often mislabel as “search” or “direct.”
It Delivers High-Quality Leads: Visitors exposed to a streaming ad are 5 times more likely to convert, proving the channel drives high-intent customers.
It’s Undervalued by Standard Analytics: By failing to see that streaming drives 6% of all leads, advertisers risk misallocating budgets and underfunding a powerful performance channel.