CTV Fraud Schemes Cost $144 Million In 2021

Major connected TV fraud schemes cost publishers $144 million in 2021, according to DoubleVerify, a digital media measurement company.

Four schemes that the company identified -- three in late 2020 and one in early 2021 -- were major efforts that may have cost publishers between $1 million and $5 million a month.

One called "Multiterra" artificially inflated inventory volume, directing media investment away from legitimate CTV supply providers. It generated more than three million fake impressions a day at its peak.

Another scheme called "SneakyTerra" involved fraudsters that hijacked real CTV device sessions -- spoofing over two million devices each day.

Two other fraud schemes -- "LeoTerra/StreamScam" and "ParrotTerra" -- set up counterfeit SSAI (server-side ad insertion) servers and then manufactured CTV inventory placed across apps, IPs (intellectual property) and devices.

An analyst says DoubleVerify can detect over 500,000 fraudulent CTV devices a day.

The company cites eMarketer estimates that U.S. connected TV advertisers spent $14.44 billion in 2021. Projections are that by 2025 that number is projected to grow to $27.5 billion.

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1 comment about "CTV Fraud Schemes Cost $144 Million In 2021".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, February 3, 2022 at 9:47 a.m.

    Wayne, it seems that much of the growth in CTV ad revenue is coming from digital media spenders who use programmatic systems to buy their time---not savvier  "linear TV" advertisers who place their buys direct---and, largely, avoid fraud. The solution---short term-----is to buy direct---even if you can't give every long tail venue proper consideration.

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