This week's review of ad fraud and quality in the digital advertising space.
The Connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) programmatic advertising landscape went through a phrase of rapid growth in 2019, according to Pixalate's State of Connected TV/OTT: 2019 Ad Supply Trends Report.
According to Pixalate's data, between Q1 2019 and Q4 2019, global programmatic OTT/CTV ad impressions increase 4.3x — or 330%.
"Google has removed close to 600 Android apps and banned their developers from the Play store and its ad networks as part of a massive crackdown on ad fraud and 'disruptive' mobile ads," reported BuzzFeed News.
Learn more about delisted apps in Pixalate's 2019 Mobile Ad Supply Chain Safety Report.
"Recent data privacy regulations have forced app publishers and brands to provide clear descriptions on how and what location data they collect, but many have already embraced transparency," reported eMarketer.
"A new email-based extortion scheme apparently is making the rounds, targeting Web site owners serving banner ads through Google’s AdSense program," reported Krebs on Security. "In this scam, the fraudsters demand bitcoin in exchange for a promise not to flood the publisher’s ads with so much bot and junk traffic that Google’s automated anti-fraud systems suspend the user’s AdSense account for suspicious traffic."
The Drum interviewed Craig Silverman of BuzzFeed News, who has broken several ad fraud stories over the past couple of years, including Pixalate's recent discovery of an OTT/CTV ad fraud scheme dubbed "DiCaprio."
"Silverman believes the ad industry needs to work harder to identify the corrupt elements in its midst," wrote The Drum, before quoting Silverman as saying: “These are really trust-destroying things that are taking place in the ecosystem and it’s something people working in the industry really need to think about as a problem that they need to have a role in helping solve.”
