SIVT fraud detection: What are falsely represented sites?

Pixalate is an MRC-accredited company for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic ("SIVT") desktop and mobile web impressions.

According to the Media Rating Council’s (MRC) standards for Invalid Traffic Detection and Filtration Guidelines, there are two types of invalid traffic:

• GIVT (General Invalid Traffic)
• SIVT (Sophisticated Invalid Traffic)

“Falsely represented sites” are one example of SIVT.

What are “falsely represented sites” in the MRC definition of SIVT?

According to the MRC, ads sold on falsely represented sites are considered SIVT.

Falsely represented sites include any site or app that is created with domains or content intended to deceive viewers into believing they are on another site or app.  Other situations include the act of an intermediary selling an ad slot on one site and delivering it to different site.

Per the MRC, “sites masquerading as other entities for illegitimate purposes” are considered falsely represented sites.

MRC-accredited ad fraud detection and prevention companies must be able to identify situations where ads are trafficked on falsely represented sites.

What are some other examples of SIVT?

Falsely represented sites are just one example of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT) as defined by the MRC. To learn about some of the other examples of SIVT, click on any of the examples below:

•      Differentiating human and IVT traffic when originating from the same or similar source     
•      Bots and spiders or other crawlers masquerading as legitimate users
•      Hijacked devices, user sessions, ad tags, and ad creative
•      Hidden/stacked/covered or otherwise intentionally obfuscated ad serving
•      Invalid proxy traffic
•      Adware and malware
•      Incentivized manipulation of measurements
•      Falsified viewable impression decisions
•      Cookie stuffing, recycling, or harvesting
•      Manipulation or falsification of location data