This week's review of ad fraud and quality in the digital advertising space.
MediaPost has reported that Pixalate launched 1Tag, an omni-channel tag for ad fraud and viewability measurement. Pixalate has also introduced mobile in-app viewability reporting to its dashboard, just days after the IAB officially included in-app viewability in its MRAID specifications.
According to Business Insider, Google has been conducting tests which reiterate what several others — including Pixalate — have already studied and observed: ad fraud is a major problem in programmatic. Google discovered "thousands if not millions of video and display ad spots [that were] available on multiple ad exchanges, despite no ads actually being for sale at that time," wrote Business Insider.
MediaPost has reported that some financial institutions — motivated by agency arbitrage in programmatic — are contemplating buying digital ad space during big events (i.e. Black Friday) and resell for a profit. NYIAX and NASDAQ are creating a programmatic futures market of sorts that will "allow both brands and publishers to plan further ahead." MediaPost wrote the plan could "give marketers more time to root out fake or unwanted inventory."
Sizmek has acquired Rocket Fuel for $145 million. Advertising Age posits that Rocket Fuel's value took a hit in 2014 after it was revealed that Rocket Fuel had a serious ad fraud issue for at least one client.
Per AdExchanger, buyers are struggling to measure OTT campaigns. Even some basic information — like whether an "ad is served from a Chromecast or Xbox" — is difficult for buyers, according to AdExchanger. Add in the fact that OTT has significant ad fraud issues, and it becomes clear that marketers need to work with a measurement and fraud detection firm that has a comprehensive suite of tools capable of tracking across desktop, mobile, and OTT devices.
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