This week's review of ad fraud and quality in the digital advertising space.
Pixalate’s Programmatic Ad Spend in the Age of COVID-19: Connected TV/OTT Advertising report provides an analysis of how U.S. programmatic advertisers reallocated investments in March 2020 in response to the crisis.
Key Findings: Programmatic Connected TV/OTT ad spend decreased 14% in March
While overall programmatic OTT/CTV ad spend decreased 14% in March, certain apps saw big jumps in demand, according to Pixalate's Programmatic Ad Spend in the Age of COVID-19: Connected TV/OTT Advertising report.
Among the biggest risers were PBS (+1,517% increase in programmatic ad transactions in March 2020), CNBS (+689%), DIY Network GO (+419%) and others.
This AdExchanger op-ed notes that due to COVID-19, "Connected TV is a prime opportunity for marketers — and ad fraud."
"Connected TV already has its share of ad fraud problems thanks to its attractive double-digit CPMs and its lagging capabilities for ad measurement and verification compared with desktop and mobile web," the op-ed reads. "Couple these factors with increased consumption habits and a market now distracted by bigger issues – the coronavirus – and it’s not hard to see connected TV as an even bigger target for ad fraud."
"Google plans to soon require all advertisers to provide proof of their identities as well as the countries where they do business, in hopes of providing consumers with more insight into online advertising," reported MediaPost. The information is expected to be made available to consumers in the "Why this Ad" menu on Google ads by this summer, per MediaPost.
Adweek has reported that The Trade Desk is asking SSPs for "a single supply path to publisher inventory" to create "a more transparent marketplace."
